Knife of a Protector
by Ordos Yama
Summary: He was no longer the Knife of Dunwall. The constant spilling of innocent blood had taken its toll on him and he would have no more of it. A small girl summoned him and gave him a chance to become a new man, a chance to do some good for once in his life as her protector. It was as good of a choice as any for one such as him.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first attempt at a actual fanfiction instead of my other bunch of one shots. It will be a bit AU with the most major change being that Tabitha is a voidmage alongside other minor details. Of course her summon will be Myoznitnirn (I think that's how you spell it.) which will be Daud (Cause he was a more interesting character to me than Corvo.). I do intend for some ways for him to use Myoznitnirns powers later depending on whether I still have the steam to go past my planned ending of this. Only other notes would be that updates would probably be at random since I write at a strange pace and that you forgive me for any bad English (or Engrish) since it isn't my native language. Ah! Also I hope that the characters aren't OOC. (If they are... well then this is fanfic for a reason :P)**

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The on-duty guards didn't see him. At best; they might have caught a glance of his shadow as he bypassed the security to the secure garden. With the rat plague still going strong and the number of weepers walking around; few trained men could be spared for guarding a graveyard, no matter how important those buried within. That suited him just fine.

The void black eyes of the man returned to normal when he ascertained that he was alone, alone in the resting place of his greatest regret. He stepped up the grave, decorated with exotic flowers and beautiful wreaths; gifts to the Empress from all her mourners. He didn't have a gift like that.

The setting sun cast a long shadow behind him as he solemnly stood over the silent grave. He was silent as he slowly knelt over the grave and bowed his tired head in penance for crimes that could not be forgiven nor repented for.

The tranquil garden was empty of all life but him, the Watch guardsmen at the gate kept any average visitor out, nobility or otherwise and the only other Royal family member was now an Empress; busy with managing the dying city of Dunwall.

Slowly; Daud unsheathed his blade and gently placed it upon the decorated stone grave. The same vile blade he had bathed in the living blood of his many targets. The same dirty blade that he used to coldly murder the sole person that mattered to him… in front of her own little girl. The bloody blade he used to murder the Empress of the Empire of the Isles; the one hit that made him feel regret.

There were no words he could say here that would lighten the weight of his crimes, heinous as they were. For he knew that nothing he said could change the past; it was **his **choice to kill her for coin. It didn't matter how much he now regretted it now for nothing could change the past.

His regret and guilt would mean nothing to all those that suffered as a consequence of his actions. Those that died under the brutal dictatorship of the Lord Regent and the uncountable thousands of other plague victims that suddenly lost the civil aid that the Empress had generously granted them. All those deaths… loomed over his head.

He made his choices, terrible ones in retrospect, and he would have to live with the consequences of them; whether he liked it or not. For better or for worse.

Daud remained stooped low over the Empress's grave for a while longer, eyes closed in penance. When he was finally done with wallowing in his hollow self-worth; he finally reopened his eyes. They were locked onto the assassin's blade; his blade, still lying on top of the cold stone as a reminder of his actions.

He wouldn't leave his blade her for long. It would be insulting to offer the same blade he used to kill the Empress to her grave. Besides; while his life as an assassin was now over, he might have use for this sword for some time yet. With Dunwall as it was now, he would be a colossal idiot to walk around unarmed in a city filled to brim with mad weepers, violent gangs and rabid rats.

With a depressed sigh, he got back up, his blade being sheathed back to its place on his hip. He supposed that he should see to getting himself out of Dunwall now, before Corvo decides to change his mind on whether he should get revenge for the former Empress. Perhaps he should take Lurk's advice and find somewhere on the edge of the Empire to disappear to. With his talents and connections; it wouldn't be all that hard.

And then what? His money wouldn't last forever and he would need a sustainable income. He didn't know any useful trades outside of killing and perhaps making tools of murder like poisons and hidden weapons. And he did not want to walk down that bloody soaked again; to become an assassin drenched in the blood of his victims. He's had enough of killing for coin.

Maybe he could find something simple to do, he needn't an illustrious job to live the rest of his life in peace and without pointless death. Perhaps he should take a page from Corvo's story and become a bodyguard for some noble or something alike. He certainly had the skills for it.

A harrowing feeling from behind him made his skin tingle. Reacting instantly; he used a transversal to get away from his spot, ensuring that whatever it was wouldn't be directly behind him. Reappearing a few meters ahead but facing the other way now, he raised an eye at what he saw. A deep frown was now building up on his face, he didn't like what he saw.

There was now a shimmering mirror, that was definitely now there before, occupying the space in front of him, noticeably floating above the grassy floor. The unusual mirror just stank of witchcraft and the fogginess of the glass only made him all the more suspicious. It was almost as if it was inviting him; daring him to touch it and discover what lurked behind the fog.

He wasn't sure if this was the work of the Outsider, he was an observer of events, one that would create utter chaos for amusement. But he was consistent; it wouldn't be amusing if he manipulated every event to his liking. To him; it was much more entertaining to watch those he marked fight each other. Him against Delilah. Corvo against him.

So in all likeliness; this was someone that was marked by the Outsider. But he didn't know of one that used mirrors. Corvo's abilities were much like his own. His former subordinates wouldn't try something like this and Delilah was stuck in the void. Her witches? Perhaps; but he hadn't seen any of them do something with mirrors before; just plants, screaming and shadow darts.

Stepping up to meet the challenge, he used drew the blade he offered to the Empress as he faced the mirror with the naked blade, narrowed eyes searching for anything that might clue him in onto its origin. The mirror was plain with no borders whatsoever; made entirely of what might be glass. Thick misty fog was what he would call it; he couldn't see a thing through it.

Crouching down slowly; he picked up a small pebble which he then tossed at the mirror. Somehow; it wasn't even surprising when the pebble went through the mirror; causing a small ripple effect like it was made of water. The mirror apparently couldn't decide if it was water or air apparently.

Common sense would say not to touch it and just go on his way. The mirror wasn't following him or anything and he didn't see any reason as to why he couldn't just simply leave and forget all about this mysterious mirror…

Maybe it was the Outsider after all. The bastard knew that he couldn't abide a mystery; just like that affair with Delilah he would seek out the truth. And who ever conjured the mirror would likely try again anyway. He didn't want any loose ends in this city; if someone was after him then he would face them now. Rather than try to escape; he would confront it here and now.

With gritted teeth; he stepped forward to stand before the mirror. His blade held out towards it as he prepared just in case something came out from the other end. In his experience with magic; anything was possible, especially what should be impossible and defied logic. So he was ready for whatever horror lay beyond.

Cautiously; he slowly moved his hand towards the mirror. Knowing full well, that with his luck, he would probably be sucked in or something; Daud stroked the mirror with his fingers. He really didn't want to do this; but it was better to face whoever it was on the other hand directly than play another game of cat and mice. An ugly frown on his face when the rest of his hand was tugged into the mirror.

Immediately, there was a shock that ran through his body as his arm went in next. He gritted his teeth as his entire body felt like it was being electrocuted. His feet made long track marks as he stubbornly tried to hold his ground as the mirror sucked him in.

It was when the 'glass' of the mirror had drawn up to his shoulder that he gave up fighting the irresistible pull on his body. Readying his blade with his still free hand; he willingly charged the rest of the way through. Hopefully he could take the enemy by surprise and get the first strike.

_By the Five Elements of the great Pentagon…_

_Heed my call O' being who shall follow my fate…_

_As Charlotte Helene de Orleans…_

_And summon my familiar!_

Those were the quiet words whispered to him in a murky black moment. He had no idea what this Pentagon was or who this Charlotte was. But he was familiar with the concept of familiar; those hounds at Brigmore Manor were familiar to the witches. And from the wording; it seemed he was being summoned as a familiar. But he had no more time to contemplate the words as he was deposited into the air a meter or so above the ground in a loud explosion.

Daud landed heavily on a grassy floor, his ears ringing from the explosion. Of all things to notice; it was the grass that caught his attention. A completely different shade that looked far more lively and healthy than the grass of the Empress's grave. So that mirror took him somewhere else; not surprising. Tightening his grip on his blade, he briskly got up on his own two feet. He would see where he was now.

There was a large plume of dust was centred on him, blocking all view out. That was fine with him; no one could see in either and he had dark visi-

Daud blinked when the familiar dark shades that accompanied dark vision did not appear. This time, watching his left hand, the one that bore the Outsider's mark, he was surprised when his mark did not glow with unholy light when he willed his ability to activate. Not even the fading light that showed when he lacked the mana to cast it; this was more troublesome.

Still, he had other talents and even without his powers; he was skilled with the assortment of weapons that he had on him. His sword was in the right hand while he drew a pistol with the left. He didn't explicitly want to kill anyone but he wasn't above it even now, especially if it was in self-defence.

He had killed Edgar Wakefield knowing that a swift death from his blade was merciful compared to what Lizzy had planned for him and many of the Overseers that attacked his men and his base died by his hand. It wasn't the act of killing that repulsed him now. He supposed that it was killing for coin that seemed… worthless to him and degraded him as a person.

But he shouldn't be having a sentimental moment now either. He shouldn't distract himself right now. The gun was trained on the humanoid shapes that were starting to form as the dust settled. It was… a sight he was really expecting.

A rabble of children and one older man dressed in a stereotypical outfit which fit all too well with the Overseer's image of a practitioner of foul magic. The rest was… odd. The males in the group were dressed like nobility; that was fine. The females were dressed with short skirts which made even the whores of the Golden Cat seem modest in comparison.

At least they didn't threatening; he would even venture to say that they were just as surprised as him. And aside from unreal hair pigment that defied what he believed what was possible for hair; most of them weren't didn't look interesting or dangerous with two exceptions.

The old man, who he assumed was the leader of the group, looked more wary than surprised and he somehow doubted, from the stance he was holding it, that his staff was merely ornamental. But he was some distance away so he could probably manage to fire a shot off before he could close the distance. And if that failed; a follow-up dart from his wristbow then.

The second was one of those girls with an unnatural shade of hair: light blue of all things. She was a head shorted than all the others and was far closer to him than anyone else, standing just outside of arms reach. And her expression was one of cold calculations, as if she had predicted this would happen and was following along a prearranged plan. This was likely the one that knew the most of what was going on.

There were hushed words being passed around the surprised children as the blue haired girl marched up to him despite the weapons he held aloft in his gloved hands. Her eyes scanning his attire and making special note of all the pouches and pockets his crimson coat had.

"Name?" she said in a tiny voice. He considered the one worded question. The girl didn't know his name. So perhaps; he wasn't specifically targeted. Yet that expectant look from earlier suggest she knew more of this than those others here.

"Daud." He replied simply in a crispy voice. That was all he was known by now. The real name that his parents gave him so long ago was forgotten and left behind in Serkonos. He was just Daud now, the former Knife of Dunwall. "And you?"

"Tabitha." Was the soft reply. No last name at all was forthcoming; just Tabitha. Odd; he would have thought that she was this Charlotte Helene de Orleans. That was the name he had heard in the split second before arriving with a bang.

There was a brief silence between them as neither said anything, the constant whispers of the other children the only words he could pick up. He was waiting for her to continue talking. What she was waiting for? How was he supposed to know? "So… where am I?"

"Magic Academy of Tristain." The girl replied to him. Her words brief and straight to the point.

"Ah…" Daud said with a breath of air. He had no idea where the Magic Academy of Tristain was. It certainly wasn't in Gristol or perhaps even the Empire; he couldn't really see the Abbey of the Everyman allowing an academy to teach the 'foul arts of dark magic'. "Where's that?"

There was another pause as the girl considered something in her head. With only a polite bow and a brief "Excuse me." She turned her back to him and hurriedly walked back to the older man, asking for some time alone with her summon. That suited him just fine; he too would like to know what was going on.

He had expected something… more malevolent to come from the mirror. One of Delilah's old 'sister's out for revenge, another marked out for the substantial bounty on his head… Now, it seems that he was summoned to be a 'familiar'.

The word rolled out uneasily through his mouth. His opinion on Witchcraft wasn't as extreme as the Overseers, his powers were essentially witchcraft themselves. It was tool; a weapon to be utilised by the user. Did that mean that he was summoned to be a tool then, a tool for killing as usual?

"Please follow." Tabitha softly said, gesturing towards a few outside tables only a short distance away. Shrugging, he followed after her. There wasn't much else for him to do as of yet. And if there was an explanation forthcoming; then who was he to decline.

Tabitha seated herself on side of the table while he sat opposite her, on the edge seat so his legs wouldn't be caught by the table if he had to run. It was a habit of his, a by-product of living in a den of assassins; you never know when someone would decide to take a shot at you, though he doubted any of his old men would do so back then. They were either too loyal to even think of killing him or knew they were not skilled enough to pull it off without dying.

"So... What's all this about?" he started off with the most important question: the one that would explain what this situation was.

"Familiar summoning. I summoned you for Springtime Familiar Festival." Tabitha curtly replied, pointing at him with her staff. Daud nodded at that, he already had a feeling that was the case. So he was somehow summoned to be her familiar.

"And what's a familiar?" Daud inquired of her. He also already had a small inkling of what a familiar was, courtesy of those demon hounds at Brigmore manor; but he doubted that these people had the same idea as him. He was many things but an actual demon was not one of them.

"Servant and protector of summoner. Expected to aid summoner in all things. Necessary for advancement as mage." Tabitha said. She then went silent again and there was yet another silence before Daud realized there wasn't any more information forthcoming. Tabitha appeared to be a quiet girl then.

"Essentially a bodyguard and a servant at the same time then." Daud surmised it together. That's what it sounded like to him. A bodyguard or servant… that sounded far too close to what he was hoping to start a new life with.

"Yes. I will provide for accommodation and basic needs." Tabitha confirmed for him. So a bodyguard/servant that would get provided a place to sleep and have all their basic needs taken care of; any number ordinary people would kill to have such a job in Dunwall without a second thought. He wasn't such a normal person.

When he was in need of a new life style and thinking on becoming a bodyguard; he is, quite literally, dropped into a situation where he would conveniently get what he was thinking. That was just too lucky and convenient for his liking. And lucky was never a word that he would describe himself with. In fact; he still didn't even know where he was. "Where are we?"

"Tristain Academy of Magic." Tabitha replied for him, repeating the same answer from before. Her eyes then narrowed in thought at his question.

Tristain Academy of Magic… he had never heard of such an academy. The Abbey would never allow such an establishment to exist within the Empire, it would go against every tenet it stood for.

"Ever heard of Gristol? Or the Empire of the Isles?" Daud questioned her. This was a far fetched question but if he theory was correct…

"No. Not from Halkegenia?" It took Daud a moment before he realized the second part was actually a question for him. Halkegenia… was it part of the unexplored Pandyssian continent? "No. I'm from Dunwall of Gristol. Never heard of this Halkegenia. Is it part of Pandyssia?"

"No." Tabitha replied in thought. "From faraway place?"

"Seems like it." Daud sighed to himself. So he was right. This Tristain Academy of Magic was nowhere near Dunwall or even the Empire anymore. "Well then, anything else I should know about being a familiar."

"Not much else." Tabitha replied.

"This sounds far too nice. What's the catch to being a familiar? Why aren't more people being familiars?" Daud asked with mild scepticism. Servitude with provided lodgings and food, unless there were no poor people here in Halkegenia, which he doubted, why weren't there more people taking up offers like this.

"Never heard of human familiar until now. Binding is lifelong." Tabitha freely gave out, answering each question with its own sentence. And here he thought she predicted him being summoned. "Or until either of us dies."

"Binding?" Daud asked about the word. He doubted that it was there were simply just physical binds to keep him in his place. Tabitha was a witch, or mage as she called it, and he expected something more magical to bind him.

"Contract. Will scribe runes on you." Tabitha said without blinking. So the binding was a contract of some sort. One that involved putting runes on him. Now where has he heard that before?

"And those runes lets you bend me to your will?" Daud surmised for her. There would other reason for it.

There was a brief pause instead of the predicated automated answer. It was only after some thought that Tabitha answered. "No."

Daud snorted at the answer. "Then what would stop me from leaving when I want?"

"Conscience." Tabitha softly replied.

A sour look broke across Daud's face at the answer. Before killing the Empress, he would have said that he didn't have a conscience. But now... With all that regret and angst in him; he was more certain of his conscience than ever before. It was a good change for him, or at least it was in his opinion.

"Then what if I refuse to be your familiar from the beginning?" he asked after a minute of thought, varying his earlier question slightly.

"Free to leave." Tabitha answered blandly.

"Really? Didn't you say a familiar was necessary to advance?" Daud questioned her, quoting her earlier words. That would mean she would fail to advance as a mage; however they advanced.

"Acceptable consequence." Tabitha replied, a slight hint of uncertainty in her voice. As if she wasn't sure of whether her answer was true or not.

Stooping down slightly, he pondered his limited options. The first and most obvious was becoming this girl's familiar/bodyguard. He might need more information first before accepting but it seemed like a decent even if it was lifelong He could probably cancel the last part by murdering Tabitha but he doubted he would have the heart to murder a child, one expecting him to protect her no less.

The other would be to refuse and go...

"Can you send me back where I came from?" Daud suddenly asked. He was in no particular rush to return to Dunwall but it would be nice to keep as many options possible.

"No. Sorry." Tabitha shook her head with the answer before apologetically giving him a short bow of the head. "Will be stuck in Tristain."

Daud reassuringly waved away her apology. Not being able to return to Dunwall and by extension: the entire Empire as a whole didn't really bother him too much. He certainly wouldn't be missing it all that much. There certainly wasn't all that much to miss with the possible exception of the camaraderie he shared with some of his old men.

Bah, he didn't need to worry about them. He trained and disciplined them all well enough for them to survive most of what Dunwall could throw at them. They would be more than a match for most other groups within Dunwall as long as they co-ordinated with each other. It would take a Corvo to flush them all out and he suspected that he would be too busy with his reinstated position as Lord Protector to properly wipe out his Whalers.

But it did further limit his options. He doubted that all the coin he had on him would be worth a damn here. Back in Gristol, he had contacts all over the place and knew how things ran: the laws, and how to avoid it, where the Overseers had a presence at, which crime lords ruled where. Here? He had nothing and knew nothing. For all he knew, it could be a land where it was ruled by wealthy merchants or something else as peculiar.

With no coin and nothing to his name but his clothes and all the poisons, ammunition and hidden weapons he kept in his coat. With that in mind, he might end up repeating his youth again; being a hired blade for nobles. Something he swore off not too long ago.

So if he went with the better of the choices that would mean... Well, he supposed that he was going to take a page from Corvo after all. He was already fairly old and had maybe a decade, at best, left in him anyway. He may as well spend them doing something worthwhile that actually meant something positive to someone.

"Do you want me as your familiar then?" Daud asked of her. Whether he wanted to or not meant very little. It was what she thought that mattered most; though he already had a good idea that she did want him as a familiar.

Again there was a pause from the girl, even a quick blink too. But then her face reset itself to its impassive mode as she thought over her answer first. "Yes." she said with a strong nod.

"Do you mind sharing why?" Daud asked her. This was a pointless question since he already what was to come, but knowing this would give him more insight into his... new master.

Tabitha drew her head closer, her cheeks slightly flushed in what might be shyness or embarrassment. Then she whispered quietly something, more to herself than actually him, with her eyes held down. Glancing back up and seeing that Daud didn't hear her words; she repeated it a bit louder this time. "I... want a friend."

Daud blinked in surprise. She wanted him as a familiar so they could be friends. That was... unexpected. Him as a friend? He… didn't think he would be a good friend to be around.

"Sorry." Daud said with a frown after. Tabitha dejectedly nodded in understanding as her discipline took back control and her face became void of emotion once again. Daud sighed at the sight; him, a master assassin and her, a little witch... "I'd probably be a terrible friend."

"Fine." Tabitha said, nodding anyway. There was a slight tone of relief in her voice as she replied. "It's fine."

Daud could only nod his head. Sighing, he felt the released stress in his tense shoulders, allowing them to slump. "Then I guess you got me as your familiar."

Tabitha only nodded though there was a slight glint of positive emotion in the eyes of her outwardly passive face. It was then a similar thought crossed her mind and she stopped to ask something of him. "Why do you want to be my familiar?"

"Why?" Daud repeated to himself. It was the best course of action available to him? He would struggle to find other occupation other than an assassin in a completely foreign world? He wanted to protect her? "You've given me a chance to become something better than what I was before."

A chance to be a protector of life instead of a taker.

Tabitha nodded, satisfied with his answer. "Will begin binding then." She said in a quieter than her already quiet voice.

"Go ahead." Daud allowed. She mentioned scribing runes on him and he assumed that it meant using witchcraft to carve that rune into his skin. It was likely going to be painful but he was sure that he could deal with it; it couldn't be much worse than being: stabbed, shot at, bitten into, electrocuted, drowning, poisoned... "How is it done?"

"By kiss." Tabitha said blandly. Her teal eyes intently staring into his own from behind her reading glasses.

"Kiss..." Daud repeated aloud. It sounded like something out of a fantasy. This was how he she was going to bind him... He had wrong with the intimate touch of a woman, it was one of the greatest pleasures in life; but... Tabitha was likely not even a third his age and she looked like a small defenceless child too. Though he certainly knew some people that had… unwholesome tastes in little children, he preferred grown woman who knew what they were doing. "Is there no other way?"

"No." Tabitha stated matter of fact like. This time, she showed no embarrassment, or really anything that could be described as emotive, over kissing an old scruffy man like him; making him wonder if that earlier show of emotion was a one off occurrence or just good acting.

"Then let's get it over with." Daud said with a disgusted look. He wouldn't relish this moment in the least but it was something that had to be done, he supposed.

Nodding her agreement, Tabitha got off her seat and walked around the table to stand in front of Daud; clearly noticing that she wasn't tall enough to reach across the table. Closing her eyes, Tabitha started chanting the same incantation several times over in a voice barely even heard by him despite there being almost no distance between them. "My name is Charlotte Helene de Orleans. By the Pentagon of the Five Great Powers, bless this humble being and make him my familiar."

There was that name again, Charlotte Helene de Orleans. Was that her real name? Or was Tabitha? That was all he could think in the short time before Tabitha finished her chant as Tabitha leaned over and gave a small peck on the lip; of which he restrained his hand from wiping off. He wasn't going to smear all the dirt and grime from his gloves over his mouth.

He then let out a restrained grunt as fiery pain burned across his forehead. His vision went pitch black as his were jammed shut. Once again, his resisted the burning itch to feel what was burning onto his head. He knew what it was; it was just like when the Outsider did with his hand… though… admittedly it hadn't hurt this much.

Still… he repressed the urge to scream out loud. This… was painful, but compared to getting stabbed through, burnt alive, thrown into buildings, grappled by plants, bit by demon dogs, and fighting witches in general was more painful and generally more dangerous than this. Though; if he ever met the one who invented such a stupid method he would smash his face in.

Then it was gone, as suddenly as it had started, it disappeared just as quick. Opening his eyes, he saw the world as in a blue twilight shade. Tabitha was now a golden silhouette, her vision alternating between staring at his face and staring his left hand. This was… Void Gaze? But he didn't recall using it just now.

Earlier… he had tried to use it and failed due to his mysterious lack of mana. So… his mana was back again? It certainly wasn't a moment ago, yet once Tabitha marked him; his mana had returned. It clearly had something to do with this and he was certain there was some intricately detailed explanation for this phenomena; he just didn't have the inclination to look into it right now, perhaps never really.

Learning how exactly his powers, derived from the Outsider, worked was never a priority. When he first got them; he focused on its mechanics and how to best maximise their effects. Learning the limits of transversals, controlling shadow kills, and selecting who to summon among all those he had an arcane bond with. Those had always had a higher priority than learning the exact attributes of mana and the true nature of the void; though he suspected that his mana was derived from the void.

"Fine?" he heard the golden silhouette of Tabitha ask him. Daud tracked a finger over his forehead, feeling the grooves on his skin. Despite the obvious pain it had caused him before; there was only an odd tingling feeling as he stroked it.

"I'm fine." Daud said after a moment. His vision was returning to normal now and gleaming rays of sunlight were entering his view. "You're name is really Charlotte isn't it?"

"Yes." Tabitha quietly confirmed for him. There was a quick cautious look at the rest of her class before she finally spoke on. "Please keep quiet. Will explain later."

"Later then." Daud replied. There would be a long discussion later over a list of various things that was only getting longer. He then pointed to the where the thought runes would be on his head. "Is this the runes?"

"Yes." Tabitha said whilst her eyes were staring at what he supposed was the rune carved into the skin of his head. Once again there was a calculative look in her eyes as she seemed to think deeply on something. "Hide it with hood, please."

"The runes?" Daud asked her suspiciously. He suspected that it was the runes on his head that she wanted to hide, but for what reason; he didn't know at all. Yet another thing to add to the ever growing list of things to ask _later_.

"Yes. Keep it secret, please." Tabitha requested of him. Shrugging, Daud fumbled with the hood of his coat for a bit before pulling it over his head, he hasn't worn it in a very long time. Most people in Dunwall could recognise by the colour of his coat or by face, making the hood redundant and his own assassins sometimes had trouble telling the difference between him and Lurk by sight alone if they wore the same outfit.

It wouldn't be the same here, of course. Though it'll look suspicious for him to be wearing a hood all the time, especially indoors, but there really didn't seem to be any other way of hiding his forehead. "Is it covered?"

"Yes." Tabitha nodded before switching her sharp gaze to his right hand: where his Outsider's mark lay. So she had noticed it then? "What's that symbol?"

"How about I tell you later? I can't really explain it without giving an example of its powers." Daud suggested to her. That was not really a lie but not exactly true either. He could explain it without showing her his powers but it would be far easier and more convenient to simply show her later.

Tabitha looked like she was about to give her affirmative before suddenly casting a cautious look back at the rabble of other students and the sole teacher. It was when she was certain that they were still occupied that she did answer. "Okay."

There was silence once again as they both waited for the other to speak first. Tabitha's silent eyes looking at him while he started straight back. He sucked at staring contests. "So what now?"

"We return to class." Tabitha pointed to the rest of the students were situated. A number of odd creatures now spread out among them. Other familiars he supposed.

Tabitha was about to lead the way back to the rest of the class before a thought came to her. Professor Colbert had to record the runes of all the familiars and she couldn't refuse to let Colbert see the ones on Daud without arousing suspicion. And if he saw them then he would almost certainly identify the runes on Daud's head as Myoznitnirn eventually and ascertain her as a mage of the void. She needed to prevent that information leakage. "Pretend symbol on hand is runes, please."

Daud looked at her with an odd look before back down to the strange symbols on his hand. There was clear understanding in his eyes. "Misinformation is it?"

"Yes." Tabitha nodded her confirmation. If Daud was what she thought he was then it was no surprise that she wouldn't need to explain some of her more obvious requests. With that she walked her way back to the rest of the group, noting the various new familiars that now complemented the students.

Guiche de Gramont, Dot class Earth: Earth Mole.

Montmorency de Montmorency-, Dot class Water: Frog.

Malicorne de Grandpre, Dot class Wind: Owl

Kirche von Anhalt-Zerbst, Triangle class Fire, Person of interest: Fire Dragon.

Reynald de Chatillion, Dot class Wind: Eagle.

Gimli de Maiaxe, Dot class Wind: …

"Welcome back Miss Tabitha. Did you sort it out with your familiar?" Professor Colbert said while cutting into her thoughts. A warm smile on his face as he indicated for her and Daud to come closer. But she had to remind herself that he was Square Class Fire Mage; one does not reach that high without intense training and prior experience.

"Yes." She replied before moving to the back of the group. Again the whispers from her classmates started as she walked around them, though none would try to ridicule her like they did with Louise de Valliere or at least not to the same extent. She wasn't a complete _failure_.

Even if her practical abilities were terrible by exam standards; they were still present in the form of small air bursts. Or at least that was what it looked like to the teachers and all the other students. Her control over explosions was simply just a bit more controlled and restrained than Louises'.

"Now, I just need to see your runes, Mr… um…" Colbert started towards Daud before he could move along with Tabitha, before realizing he didn't know his name as of yet. It was her hope that he wouldn't be able to identify the mark just like how she failed to.

"Daud." Daud bluntly told him. He then took off his left glove and held out the strange symbol for her teacher to see. The professor had a startled look on his face as he examined the mark which was then replaced with a much more inquisitive one as he leaned in to get a better look, his finger pushing up his glasses as he did so. "Are we done?"

"Ah! Yes! My apologies, I've just never seen a rune like yours before…" the professor trailed on as he excused himself away from Daud. Clearing his throat; he looked around to look at Tabitha. "Well, congratulations on completing both Summon Familiar and Contract Familiar spells, Miss Tabitha."

Tabitha gave a small nod of acknowledgment while there was a short and brief awkward applause from the rest of the students; as if they were unsure if they should really be clapping. Not out of ordinary; she had made little attempt to integrate too much into the student body. She did not need to create possible weaknesses for Joseph to take advantage of.

"Now that we're done, we sho-""Louise hasn't gone yet!" Professor Colbert started to say before being cut off by Kirche's haughty shout. The eyes of everyone was then drawn to the small pink haired girl who had hid herself in the thickest throng of students; desperate for the professor to not call her up.

"Ah, Miss Louise, my apologies for forgetting you." Professor Colbert stated apologetically as he singled her out from the class. He then motioned for Louise to come forward, expectantly staring straight at her. Under such scrutiny, Louise reluctantly stepped forward to summon her familiar.

Tabitha took a further step back, giving a slight tug on Daud's coat as she did so. Her observations of Louise de Valliere had led her to conclude that she was a mage of the void just as she was, though she lacked the same level of knowledge and control she had over her magic. That was the only real benefit she felt from all those missions she was coerced into taking under the Knights of the Northern Parterre; going through all those life or death missions ensured that one either learned quickly or die.

With Louise's lack of control; she expected an explosion of a great magnitude. Hence she made sure that she placed the majority of her class in front of her and Daud. She had no defensive spells, or any spells outside explosions really, and relied more on speed and stealth to get her objectives complete; in other words: she was a glass cannon.

There was sneering this time as Louise moved into the clearing. Tabitha ignored them and focused more on Louise, interested in seeing what familiar she would summon. Perhaps another human one like Daud?

"Is there any reason for us to be so far back?" Daud asked her, suspicion clear in his tone. Tabitha made sure that the rest of the class was busy focusing on Louise's chant, looking for an error to mock her with, before whispering the answer to her familiar. "Spell will end in explosion."

Daud cast a wary glare at Louise before roughly putting a scruff hand on her shoulder. Out of instinct more than anything else, Tabitha snatched herself out of his grip. Snapping a grip onto her staff, she spun around to smack it into Daud. Her staff stopping only just short of hitting Daud in the stomach in retaliation when she realized the situation she was in before sheepishly apologizing. "Sorry."

"Accepted. I should have warned you." Daud said, unconcerned about her near strike. While he didn't hesitate, this time he placed his hand on her at a much slower pace.

Again, Tabitha quivered at the awkward touch but didn't stop it. She didn't like being touched by others. It meant that they were within stabbing distance and within the attack range of her staff. And why would he place his hand on her shoulder anyhow? "Why?"

"In case we need a quick escape." Daud replied to her, his eyes returning to glare at Louise. It was him taking the initiative then; that was fine with her. A mindless servant that always needed orders to accomplish anything was not all that useful. Though Daud might be overestimating the size of the explosion. It could not be much larger than the explosion she caused with her own summoning.

"… summon a familiar!" Louise shouted out the last words of her spell. The expected explosion occurred then, kicking up yet another plume of dust even larger than hers.

It was the sound of the same indiscernible word that Daud whispered earlier that brought her attention away from Louise back to him. Her surprise was much less this time when she spotted the abnormal void black eyes that Daud was now sporting. It was some sort of magic, she was certain, but its properties and its use was unknown to her.

Further inquiries would have to be arranged. The class would be let off class the whole of tomorrow to allow the students to familiarize themselves with their familiars. That time would be best used for her and Daud to discuss themselves further. She was most interested in what 'magic' he could perform.

But before then; she would have to arrange some sort of accommodations for him. The hay that she had prepared in her room was inadequate and something else would have to be fixed together for him. She would have the go by the servant's quarters and request a bedroll for him until she could afford a proper bed.

There was the possibility of him staying in the servant's quarters but she didn't want to keep him too far from her. A familiar was expected to stay by its master side at all times. Though she wouldn't stop him if he chose not to sleep in the same room as her.

"He's a human as well?" Daud commented in surprise, returning her attention back to Louise's familiar whose hand was now being thoroughly examined by Professor Colbert. He had short black hair, a blue attire of sort with a white stripe across the centre, was about her age, looked in pain and in shock with his new surroundings… and in general looked far less impressive than her Daud.

In all honesty; she had thought that Louise would also summon someone similar to Daud. Not exactly like the roguish type of person that Daud was; but someone that appeared capable and skilled. But she was judging far too quickly; she missed his initial summoning whilst busy with her own thoughts and he was already contracted with Louise when she did finally look up.

"Couldn't you have done that as well?" Daud asked her as Louise started asking for help lifting her familiar away to her room. It appeared that professor Colbert must have called for everyone to return to class since everyone else was already levitating towards the stone caste.

"What?" Tabitha asked him. She assumed it was related to something that Louise had done but she hadn't seen it. She was getting too complacent in the relative safety of the Academy; she would have to rectify it at a later date.

"Just kiss me from the get go. It would have bound me right away." Daud elaborated for her. Indicating towards Louise and her familiar with his hand.

Tabitha thought on that. The answer was obvious. Yes, it was entirely possible for her to have done that as well in theory, since practically she wasn't tall enough to reach his lips unless he was kneeling or sitting as he was before. And she didn't want to risk him trying to attack her for trying. But… "Willing followers is better than forced ones."

Forced followers only invited along a multitude of problems further ahead. By explaining the situation to Daud and giving him the option to leave and even honestly answering his questions; she hoped to build up their relation as master and familiar on mutual respect and trust. It would be essential for both of them to be able to trust the each other to watch their backs when she would inevitably be sent on missions again for Gallia.

"True enough." Daud accepted with a nod. Relying on fear and brute force would mean his followers would be more susceptible to betray him when faced with someone who could induce more fear. So he held his men together with respect and discipline… and when he started slipping after the murder of the Empress; they also started losing faith in him and his ability. That was why Lurk thought she could take him…

Shaking off old memories, he stared at where the door was, committing the location to his head. A transversal would get them get them there much faster. "Master…" the word rolled out of him awkwardly, he had been called that many times but this was the first time in a long time that he actually used it himself.

"Tabitha." She interjected first whilst still continuing her rapid walk back to what he assumed was class. He… supposed this was permission to use her fake name then. That was more convenient.

"Tabitha, I could get us there much faster unless you also intend for me to hide my powers." Daud offered her, this time using her name. A transversal would get them there in an instant, but he suspected that Tabitha didn't want him to show off his powers. Unusual given that this was an academy for magic and witchcraft; he would have thought there would be no need to conceal magic.

The teal haired girl considered it for a moment, measuring the distance between them and the castle. "Walk. Show powers later."

Daud gave a slight nod before resigning himself to the walk. He was not adverse to walking but it was simply more time efficient and convenient to transverse the distance.

"Wait! Stop!" Daud heard someone wildly shout from behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that the other human familiar was running up to catch up with him. His irate pink haired master screaming at him; commanding, demanding really, that he return to her side.

Tabitha stopped herself as well, looked at the boy and gave a weak nudge in his direction. Grunting his understanding, he turned around and waited for the boy to catch up. He wondered what he wanted from him.

The boy stopped right in front of him, lightly puffing from exertion. He then lifted his head, looking up at him in the face. "You... you're not from here either, are you?"

"No." Daud distractedly answered, his attention drawn to the boy's master who was closing in on him fast. Her face was burning red with anger and she was holding some stick that was dangerously aimed at him. And while he didn't know what the significance of the stick was; he could safely assume that it was a tool for magic.

"Then... Then do you know what Japan is? What Earth is?" the boy desperately pleaded to him for answers. Ja-Pan? He couldn't say he'd ever heard of such a place and earth?

"Do you mean the dirt and rocks?" Daud directed his own question back at him. The hopeful expression on the boy's face fell from his reply but Daud paid no attention to that. Instead he was now backing away to re-join Tabitha as the pink haired girl was now standing over the boy, casting her shadow over him like a tower of doom. There was a look of disgust over his face as he left him to whatever the girl was planning; typical nobles with their punishments.

"What did he ask?" Tabitha questioned him when he started walking with her back to class again. Short manly wails could be heard from behind them and Daud didn't even look back to know what they were. He supposed that his suspicious luck granted him a more sensible master as well. He wasn't sure how he would have taken 'punishments' though it certainly wouldn't be with passivity.

"If I knew this Ja-Pan and some place named after dirt." Daud told her. That the boy didn't seem to know anything about this place as well implied that he also wasn't of this world. But he cited places that were also unknown to him… was it possible he was also from another world?

"Interesting." Was the only response he heard from Tabitha.

* * *

**A sad thing is that I really want to write Daud fighting Guiche but I don't plan for it in this story. So I'll probably just add it in as an after thought next chapter but won't be associated with the story. It'll probably be real quick anyway.**

**Another note is that I didn't use too many lineb reaks to separate the change in POV since I feel it gets in the way of the flow of the story. Though if people find it otherwise then I'll just add them in on the next chapters which will be... sometime in the near future hopefully.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Just rethinking my plans and remembered that the Butterfly Effect should occur since Joseph would not be able to summon Sheffield. Hence, a lot more things have become AU than I initially thought. So I kinda had to rethink a lot of my plot since logically Reconquista would not exist without Sheffield. Tis an excuse why this took so long. That and I'm quite good at procrastinating. **

* * *

"_My, my. I had expected something more from the one who took away one of my marked._" Tabitha awoke to the cool voice with a start as she found herself in a place that was wrong in all senses. She was on a floating island of sort, with nothing below or above it. There was no sky nor was there a ground; there was only a void of empty space. "_Instead; I find a young girl filled with dark emotions and bearing a minor essence of mine._"

Looking for the source of the words, she found herself facing a non-descript young man dressed in a manner of clothing not like anything in Halkegenia but possessed an odd feel similar to Daud's own. He was also floating about a mail off the ground; but the most defining feature was the pitch black eyes which seemed to peer into depths of her very own soul like no secret of hers was hidden from it. The same eyes that Daud had momentarily sported yesterday yet different. The significance of that similarity was not lost on her.

"_Yes. Daud was one of my marked. But you can have him. He is now just a broken man who got given a rather dull purpose for himself._" The man said nonchalantly, reading her thoughts as if it was not anything out of the ordinary. He elaborately waved at Tabitha then with both hands, leaning his head forward as if to get a better look at her face with his impossible eyes. "_But you, Charlotte of Orleans, you're much more interesting._"

Tabitha narrowed her eyes in suspicion at the mention of her old name. She was almost certain that the 'man' before her was not human despite his appearance. And this was no place she had ever heard of. Her hands reached for her staff which she always kept near her even in sleep and was pleasantly surprised to feel the familiar woodwork. So she wasn't without a weapon if the man proved hostile to her.

"_So filled with hate for that man. Yet you're also quite uncertain aren't you?_" the thing spoke to her in a tone that would be considered mocking. Tabitha now narrowed her eyes and readied her staff at the intimate details he was revealing. Knowing her old name was within the realms of possibility; but knowing of her personal thoughts of which she had never shared with anyone was impossible.

"_Is he really what he says? Or is it just another game for him? I could tell you… but where's the fun in that?" _the thing chuckled to himself as he avoided giving her answers. Tabitha recoiled in shock and took a few steps back when the man started to… _break_ into tiny pieces of some sort of reflective parchment. "_Ask your new pet assassin. He can be quite insightful._"

Tabitha started awake again, this time in the safety and of her own bed. She took a few wary glances around to ensure that she was truly back in her dorm room and that the _thing_ was nowhere to be seen. Assured that she was back in the mundane world, she released a soft sight of relief while wiping away the dripping sweat on her face.

It was still dark out with only the moonlight from the open window of her room providing a meagre respite of light. She was no expert at judging the time but she would say it must be just before sunrise. In the usual silence of her room, she easily picked up the new disturbance that she would be getting used to.

Daud was sleeping down on the cold floor amidst a ragged bed roll. There had been no room for him in the servant quarters and the allowance the Academy granted did not cover purchasing another bed; who would have suspected she would need one for her familiar? And the money she had brought from Gallia would not be sufficient; there was only so much she could carry around practically without having to travel with heavy bags of coins everywhere.

But as interesting as the lack of a proper bed was; the _thing _told her that Daud was an assassin and a broken man. The former she could accept; the sheer number of lethal armaments and unorthodox weaponry he had shown her yesterday evening meant he was no normal hired blade. But as for the latter…

…She wasn't certain anymore.

And there was still that last mention of Daud: 'He can be quite insightful' that was what the _thing_ said about Daud. Did he really mean that Daud knew something about her circumstances? But that was impossible. But then she was just visited by some otherworldly being in her dreams… But then this entire episode could have just been a dream…

No that was too unlikely. If it was a product of her own mentality then she would have been more familiar with her own dream. She was certain she had never seen the _thing_ before. And the subtle hints he gave to her was too cut very close.

So perhaps Daud had been in under similar circumstances? So then what did Daud feel? And what was he meant to feel for? Perhaps the _thing_ just wanted to throw her off or was playing with her? She had too many unanswered questions for her to process all at once.

Tabitha shook her head to clear it. Taking slow and deep breaths, she then reached over to the side and turned on her lamp; its glows illuminating the entire room with a warm light. With a brief sideways check that it didn't disturb Daud, who didn't seem bothered in the least with the light, she brought over her book and started to read. She could get answers from Daud in the morning.

* * *

Daud snapped awake in the dark; his face dripping with sweat and his back aching from the hard floor he spent the night on. Looking around, he felt his body and mind relax itself as he recognised the room of Tabitha and his own poorly assembled bedroll. He wasn't in the void… where the Outsider resided. It was… just a dream…

"Can't sleep?" he heard a soft voice ask him. Seated on the regal bed was Tabitha, her lower body still within the comfort of the silk sheets. She was reading a large book in the bed, her only light being from the lantern, powered by magic he was told. Looking out the open window, he saw that it only the vestiges of dawn was present. Bright red rays having a slight presence in the room. It was about the normal he woke up.

"No. I've just slept enough." Daud reassured her. Tabitha was nice enough to him, though she was also far more ready to accommodate him that he would have liked. She had offered to let him have the bed while she took the bedroll, citing her inability to purchase a bed due to her lack of coin as a reason; obviously he had declined. He had slept in far worse conditions before anyhow.

"You're up early." Daud commented on Tabitha. He doubted any of the other noble students would have woken this early. From his observations yesterday; they seemed to ooze off every negative stereotype ever conceived about Nobles: spoiled, cocky, arrogant, and egoistic. It didn't really bother him in the least, he had rather expected it after all. There were always good nobles and bad nobles; and the bad nobles always outnumbered the good nobles by a wide margin.

"Bad dreams." Tabitha told him before closing her eyes in thought for a brief moment. Without another spoken word; she closed her book and delicately placed it upon the nightstand for safe keeping. Then she started shuffling out of the blankets and eventually off of the bed completely.

Seeing this, Daud got up with her as he shoved the thin blanket of the bedroll off of him. The sign of her giving up on her book and getting out of bed meant she probably intended to do something. Unlike Tabitha, he had slept in his full equipment from yesterday. It wasn't like he had any other clothes to wear anyway. "What do you have in mind?"

"Continue talk from yesterday. Up to where?" Tabitha asked him as she slowly walked to the dresser and started pulling out the female _uniform_ of the Academy. It was in his humble opinion that the uniform was chosen by some lecherous old man; even the servant maids had more modest skirts than the ones the noble girls wore. Though he supposed it could also just be a differing view on 'modest'; it was a different culture here after all.

"You just finished explaining the basics of Halkegenia to me and said you'll teach me to read." Daud reminded her of the brief talk they had in her room after dinner service, which he had to share to share with the servants. The talk was rather informative but brief enough to be easily summed up: five nations, one faith, one evil demonic enemy to the East, had magic and flying ships, used magic stones as power source.

However the promise to teach the written language was a useful one that would be beneficial to them both. It would be impractical for him to live with a noble if he couldn't read written notes, signs, messages and the like. Odd that he could speak their language easily enough yet couldn't read the runes they used. He blamed magic; it's almost always related to the root of his problems.

"Will teach when free. Look away please." Tabitha said as she lay out her uniform on the bed. Daud obligingly turned away and faced the wooden door as she changed. She didn't really need to ask him to do so; it was just a measure of decency. And while he was definitely not the most decent man, he wasn't that low.

"Explain powers, please." Tabitha requested of him when she was finished with changing and he finally turned back around to face her usual impassive face. That was another quip he had noticed of Tabitha; she never seemed to directly give him orders, rather making them sound more like optional requests rather than a direct order. It was essentially the same thing though but the effort was appreciable.

"Well, it all starts with this." Daud told her whilst he tugged at his left handed glove. Pulling off the leather and revealing the bare skin, he held his hand out to show Tabitha the Outsider's mark. It was the source of his powers; the only _gift_ from the Outsider he didn't outright dislike. "It was given to be by a powerful being called the Outsider hence why I call it the Outsider's mark."

Tabitha made a noticeable twitch at his words before leaning closer to take a look at his runes, making mental notes of the deep black symbol. Did she know something Outsider? It couldn't be… It was when she done examining it that she then lifted her head to look at Daud with plenty of questions in mind. "Uses?"

"Those would be shown rather than explained. This is a transversal." Daud said, it was always easier to show with examples rather than explain his powers. He had tried to latter with the first of his Whalers and found it saved much more time to simply show them his powers and the ones that they would come to possess.

Leaving his left hand bare, he attempted a short range transversal. Time stopped and the world lost its colour as he held his glowing left hand up; everything was now in shades of black and white. The range of a transversal was limited if one used vision to guide them but the travel longer you needed to be able to think of the locale perfectly in your mind, difficult for him to do here since he had barely left Tabitha's side and not gone exploring. Something he planned to do while Tabitha was busy in class today.

Not wasting any more time with his internal monologue, he used a transversal to the opposite side of the room, behind Tabitha whilst facing the direction of where he previously was. He caught the sight of his own fade effect, long thin black ash fading into nothingness. He could only imagine the face of Tabitha at the sight. He guessed that it would probably be a surprised blink at best with her impassive face.

He likely wasn't too far off the mark either as Tabitha turned around to face him, no doubt hearing the noise of him appearing. That was one of the slight disadvantages of transversals; it always made a small noise when you ended up in your locale. Though this was easily mitigated by the sheer usefulness and versatility of the power.

"Useful. Range? Tabitha commented before asking about how far he could use it. He couldn't tell if she was less than impressed with his transversal power or otherwise. Though he supposed the slighting raising of her eyebrows and that he eyes were suddenly more focused on him meant she was shocked or surprised.

Daud thought on that. He had never discerned the exact range of his transversals during his long use of them. But he would surmise that it was at a hundred meters at best with a perfect and precise thought on the locale. He certainly couldn't use a transversal to Dunwall Palace and immediately back to his base of operations; he had tried before. "About a hundred meters."

"Meters?" Tabitha asked him. Daud blinked before understanding dawned upon him. They were of different worlds, no matter if they were both humans. He even thought of the language barrier not too long ago. Of course they would be using a differing measuring system to his own. That… would make things more difficult.

"I don't know the equivalent here. But I suppose it would be just greater than the distance from that court yesterday to the class tower." Daud gave a rough approximation of the distance one hundred meters should cover. He had been confident that he could make the transversal between that long distance yesterday.

Tabitha nodded in understanding before going silent again. Daud just waited for her to finish processing his information. It took only a minute before the next one word question was fired off. "Limits?"

"You would need to know the locale beforehand otherwise the range is a lot more limited. Otherwise it's only the obvious limitations; like you can't transverse into objects." Daud explained to her the limits to transversals. Or at least the ones he was aware of, which he was fairly certain was all of them. Though admittedly, he had never tried to transverse into an object; common sense says that it would end badly for his body.

Again there was another moment of deep thought from Tabitha. This time she actually shovelled herself back to her bed and sat on it while she thought with closed eyes. "You need time to familiarize yourself with Academy for locale?"

"I was already planning that while you took classes." Daud admitted to her. That was probably one of the longest sentences that Tabitha had uttered to him since yesterday. Though, from what he has observed; any sentence, from Tabitha, that was over three words long was already unusually long.

Tabitha nodded at his plans. He took it as an indicator that she was content with him doing so. It wasn't like there was much else for him to do during her classes outside attending them with her. And while what they taught might be interesting, especially geography and the uses of their magic, learning the premises was of a much higher priority.

"Anything else?" Tabitha asked him. No further details was necessary for her apparently. Though given that this world seemed to have developed a culture around magic; he supposed that teleportation was not as impressive or feared here as it was back in his one.

"Stop Time. The name itself should be self-explanatory though only for eight seconds at most." Daud told her the most impressive power he possessed and of the sole limit to its potential. He actually had a suspicion that the Outsider deliberately limited the powers he gave out; just so that his marked were at even playing fields in terms of their _gifts_. It would make it so that skill and experience would decide the winner. And his marked always seem to have aplenty.

As expected Tabitha was much more surprised about this and there was a hint of scepticism in her eyes. This was why proving by example was much better than simply explaining. No one would take his normally ludicrous statements seriously otherwise. Still, stopping time was far harder to prove. Moving somewhere else while stopping time could easily be interpreted as a transversal.

"Do you have anything light to drop?" Daud asked Tabitha. Having Tabitha dropping something to which he will then stop time and pick it up before it hit the ground would be good enough. Or he could do something a bit more dangerous but that really wasn't worth just proving a point.

"No need. I believe you." Tabitha replied, cutting off his hastily made plans for an example. There was not exactly much lost by not doing it and it probably would not look like much to Tabitha anyhow. She would be stopped by time and wouldn't be able to observe the effects. "No reason to lie."

Daud shrugged his shoulders then. It was true he had no reason to lie and he was glad she could see that. Though he was, himself, was quite a paranoid person and the amount of trust placed in him by Tabitha was a bit suspect. And Tabitha didn't really look like the type of person that trusted easily. Or perhaps it was just the result of the familiar contract thing.

"Anything else?" Tabitha asked him the same question again. Her eyes looking at him intently.

"Nothing as impressive." Daud admitted before holding out left hand and hovering it at his bedroll. The Outsider's mark glowed its supernatural light as he tethered the bedroll towards him. The pile of cloths was violently lifted off the ground and hovered only a metre away from his hand. "This is a tethering. It pulls things towards me."

"I can also turn the things I kill to ash." He said as he released his hold on the bed roll and let it drop back down to the floor. This was one of his more useful skills back when he used to kill everyone to get to his target; it really saved him the trouble to actually hide the corpses. But he hadn't used it since killing the Empress. And he "Can't really show it to you though."

Tabitha nodded her head in understanding. There weren't much pests in the Academy and the only other sizable creatures, aside from the obvious exception of humans, were the familiars and they were not an option to test this ability on either.

"And I can do this." Daud said as he used Void Gaze. The world warped into the wrong colours and Tabitha was lit up in a golden light, her field of vision clear to him. Various green objects decorated the room, indicated where the valuables were. "I call it Void Gaze. It lets me identify living beings and other objects of interest."

"Such as?" Tabitha quietly asked him. Her eyes piqued with interest at the supernatural ability he had revealed. And he could have sworn she was staring into his eyes, which he knew turned black, far too close for comfort.

"Mostly coins and weapons." Daud briefly answered her question. He turned his gaze to the drawer and identified some of what was a bag of coins and what appeared to be a dagger of some sort. "Like you have some coins and a blade in that draw."

Tabitha gave a look at the draw before taking a few steps towards it. Slowly pulling it open, she withdrew a sack that jingled with coins and a sheathed dagger; just as he had said. "Correct. Anything else?"

"Hmm… well… I'm more agile and heal faster than normal but otherwise; nothing. That's all my mark grants." Daud concluded the rather short description of his supernatural abilities. The world was returning to the right colours now and he could see properly again. "Wait… wait. There's something else."

"How would you like to use some of my abilities yourself?" Daud asked her and finally managed to earn a genuine surprised look from Tabitha. His Arcane Bond with his followers allowed him to share a portion of his abilities with them. He would mark them as the Outsider marked him. And while most only ever got the ability to use a transversal; the more talented could use tetherings, grow a slight immunity to his time stopping abilities and… perhaps even develop some unique powers unlike his own just like how Billie had.

"How?" Tabitha mouthed. How did he marked them? He wasn't sure of it himself but he knew it worked. The process just came to him just like all his other powers. Hand over hand; my mark with yours. And then they would be linked until death.

"I don't know the exact details. But it's a painless process and it seems like something useful you could use. All I need is your hand." Daud said. That was the truth. And while he didn't think Tabitha would actually make use of his shared gifts in the school, based on yesterday's observations, it would be very useful regardless.

Tabitha was silent as she thought it over. And Daud did nothing as he waited. He wouldn't force this power upon her nor would he try anymore to persuade her to take it. Such a thing would be her choice alone. And the consequences of this choice for her to bear.

"Yes." Tabitha finally answered. With only a slight quiver to her arm; Tabitha held out her hand towards Daud who carefully placed his over hers. The Outsider's mark shining its light clearly on his skin and unnatural black liquid graving a mark onto Tabitha's clean forehand.

"It's done." Daud told her. Withdrawing his hand from hers; he inspected the new black marks over her hand. It was just like his own and all his marked Whaler. There were always some who couldn't be marked and thus wouldn't gain powers but given the mark stayed on her hand; she was not one of those.

"That's it?" Tabitha asked him with slight surprise. She turned the hand towards herself; her blue eyes analysing it and comparing them with the one she saw on Daud's. She would find that they were visually identical in all ways. The only real difference would be that his was the 'master' mark.

"Were you expecting some great light show?" Daud remarked to her. Magic wasn't always flashy. Or at least the Outsider's brand of it wasn't especially so. He supposed that it was different here.

"Yes." Tabitha honestly admitted. Not surprising; many of his Whalers mentioned the same when he gave him their mark. Those who didn't were even more surprised by their lack of marks and predictably became envious of their marked colleagues. Those in particular who had knowingly flaunted their powers in front of the less fortunate colleagues tended not to live very long lives.

"I'm sorry then." Daud apologised a small smirk on his lips. He then turned more serious as he faced Tabitha again who was still inspecting her new mark. Now that she had a mark; it was best that he teach her how to actually use it properly. "I'll have to train you how to use those powers properly."

"Thank you." Tabitha said with a slight bow to Daud. That felt… weird? Playing the role of a helpful servant was not something he was new to; no one ever expected the butler to be an assassin. But having the one that was supposed to be in charge bow before him was… awkward. So caught he was in his thoughts that he almost missed what Tabitha asked next. "Time?"

"That's up to you." Daud replied. He was fine with any time really. There wasn't exactly a lot of things for him to do in this Academy after he finished scouting it anyway. He would just be eating, sleeping and following Tabitha around all the time. So when they would start would be depending on when Tabitha had time.

"…At night." Tabitha answered after a moment of thought. So she wanted to keep it a secret then. There was no other reason to do it at night where, most likely, no one would see or notice.

"Then we'll start tomorrow night." Daud set the time. He would spend the rest of the day scout the school. Then he would spend this night searching for somewhere adequate to properly train her. Somewhere quiet and without many obstructive clutter would be good.

"Why tomorrow?" Tabitha asked him a good question that he quickly answered. "I still need time to learn the place too."

Tabitha gave a nod of understanding. Her eyes once again being drawn to the mark on her hand. Getting off of her bed, she walked up the draw and pulled out a pair of silk gloves and quickly slipped them on; it covered the mark well enough but it might also draw questions. Done with that, Tabitha then quickly resumed her place on her bed.

"Now that's over. I think it's your turn to tell what this thing means." Daud told Tabitha, putting a hand on the runes that marked his head. Despite having it for quite a bit now; he didn't… feel any different to normal. There wasn't a sudden boost in physical ability and he didn't seem to develop any sort of new powers. He would have thought that he would have felt a difference by now.

"Myoznitnirn. Mind of God." Tabitha calmly informed him of the name of his runes. 'Mind of God' hmm…

Four hundred and twenty two plus eighty seven take away twenty four. What did that equal?

…

After a moment of thought; he came to the answer of four hundred and eighty seven. And from that little mental experiment; he could conclude that he didn't grow a new brain or got a lot smarter all of a sudden. Or even if he did; it certainly wouldn't match a mind of a god.

"And what does it do?" Daud asked Tabitha. She knew the odd name of the rune and what it meant. That would mean that she has done research on the subject. Logically, that should also mean that she would know the properties of the rune.

"Not certain. Suspect magic control. Will research further." Tabitha admitted to him. Well that was a surprise. Perhaps she didn't research this subject as well as he had initially thought.

"Why are you uncertain?" Daud asked of her. Tabitha was a student at, what he assumed, was a prestigious academy with plenty of resources and tomes of knowledge. He would have thought she could easily research something like this.

"Runes last seen in Founder's time. All records obscure." Tabitha answered. Founder's time… Tabitha had mentioned their Founder yesterday night; when he supposedly saved humanity or something. And if he recalled correctly…

"And the Founders time was about six thousand years ago right?" Daud continued his train of thought in words. The passage of time over such an extended period would probably lost all its realy historical accuracy. A single simple verse could probably change into something completely different and unrecognizable in six thousand years. It was actually somewhat impressive that they really had tomes dating that far back.

"Yes." Tabitha confirmed for him with a small nod. "Old books unreliable."

"Right then." Daud paused for a moment of thought. Was there anything else he really needed to know about? That name he heard when he was being summoned. "Who is Charlotte?"

"Old name." Tabitha hesitantly answered him. It was clear that she was not comfortable with the subject and it was also not of great importance to him anyway. It was just something that he wanted to confirm. He suspected the Tabitha was some disgraced noble or something, requiring her to change her name to escape the shame. But if that was the case then how did she get to this, apparently prestigious, academy. "If it's not too personal; can I ask why?"

"…" Tabitha stayed silent and turned her head away from him. Daud mulled over her reaction for a moment and was about to apologize before she interrupted him. "Too personal."

"That's fine. Shouldn't have asked." Daud waved off as an apology. He scratched his head as he tried to think of something to switch the subject to. She had got him to tell her all about his abilities so… "Uh… so what can you do with your magic?"

"Explosions. Dispelling effect. Minor blast damage." Tabitha replied. Her face turned back and bearing that poker face again. That was a good brief explanation. So she could cast explosions that did minor blast damage and had a dispelling effect. Now if only he knew what the latter meant.

"And what's dispelling?" Daud voiced his question. Dispel meant making something disappear, generally a feeling or emotion. So a dispelling effect meant that it would make something disappear; he just didn't know what. But as always, he suspected magic.

"Nullifies magic." Tabitha easily replied. It nullifies magic, so it would be like the Overseers music boxes that played that dreadful song. Though this would be delivered in a form of an explosion. Likely it wouldn't be able to properly stop someone from casting magic but rather used to penetrate magic defences or something.

"Is that it?" Daud questioned her. He had expected a bit more variety in her abilities. After all he had seen those other mages in her class do various acts of magic that ranged from insignificant, like lighting things on fire, to much more impressive feats such as creating an entire stone wall from nothing. Each of the mages/students he had observed yesterday seemed to be capable of multiple spells at the least.

"Yes. Void is limited." Tabitha answered him. Void? Well isn't that a great coincidence? Perhaps the Outsider was move involved in this entire affair like he initially suspected.

"Void?" Daud repeated in query. Or perhaps this world's thought on the Void was of a completely different nature. That was more likely though he could never really be sure when it came to the Outsider and the true nature of his powers.

"Fifth Element." Tabitha briefly replied. The fifth element? So there were at least four more other elements? What did they define as elements? Was it similar to the table of elements the intellectuals at the Academy of Natural Philosophy used?

"And the others?" Daud asked Tabitha. Just because the Void was the fifth didn't mean that there were only five elements.

"Fire, Earth, Wind, Water." Tabitha perfectly repeated from memory. So the four obvious ones plus the addition of the more unique 'void'. And if he was to guess; the void element was special in some way compared to the other four elements.

"The generic ones then." Daud surmised then. It was odd that it was 'Wind' instead of 'Air' but otherwise there was nothing remarkable about them. Fire used flames, Earth used stone, Wind used air and Water used water.

"…yes." Tabitha said with a small smile. Daud frowned in turn, causing the smile to disappear. He hadn't intended that as a joke. It certainly didn't seem amusing to him. "The sun's up."

"I know." Daud said. The rays of sun light shining into the room through the open window was a clear indicator and a big give away. As per usual; the passage of time seems to have sped up when you immerse yourself into something. "Is it time for breakfast then?"

"Yes." Tabitha nodded before hopping off of her bed. She led the way to the door, him slightly following at a very slow pace as to not get in front. But then Tabitha suddenly made a stop just short of the door and turned her head back to look at him over her shoulders. "One last question?"

"Alright." Daud said. She's been asking him far more questions that he had anyway. And one of the few he asked seemed to have brought back bad memories. So he figured one more questions wasn't going to hurt.

"Are you an assassin?" She asked Daud in a serious tone. Her eyes demanding to know the truth and would not suffer a lie. Though she probably hadn't dealt with a liar like him before.

"…Formerly. You suspected it from yesterday then?" Daud surmised. It wasn't particularly difficult for one to come to that conclusion given how he showed her all his weapons. That included all those that weren't so obvious like: his wristbow, his throwing knifes, the slick blade in his boot, the tasteless poison in his pouches, the grenades and bombs in the pack on his back hidden by his long coat…

"Yes. Why stop?" Tabitha asked him, interrupting his train of thought. Why did he stop? The answer was rather obvious. He could drown himself in all the noble blood he's spilled. Yet there was not one ounce of regret or guilt behind those kills. He had thought the nobles were all the same.

"I killed someone I shouldn't have." Daud plainly answered with downed eyes. He shouldn't have killed the Empress. Everything just went wrong from there. "Scared of having an assassin as a familiar now?"

"No." Tabitha replied quickly before finally deciding to leave the room. Daud stayed silent as he followed after her. He wasn't going to push his what little luck he had left. If she decided he was still trustworthy then he wasn't going to prove her wrong.

It was only a minute later that the two of them were walking down the corridors of the girl's dorm towards the grand hall called the Alviss Hall. Of the few early rising students and the busy servants, only a few of those actually paid any attention to them as they passed. And those that did only gave him an uninterested glance before going about their own business.

"I have to get food from servant's quarters, right?" Daud asked as they entered the Alviss Hall. The hall was only moderately full and despite the numbers, no one seemed to have been served yet. Instead most of the students were spending them time chatting whilst the servants were busying themselves with arranging the tables.

"Yes. Came back when finished… please." Tabitha gave a short order before remembering to add the nicety. Daud wasn't permitted to eat at the tables as they were reserved only for the nobles. Hence she had arranged yesterday for him to share a meal with the servants who should be eating their breakfast about now; just before the scheduled breakfast for the students and faculty.

"Alright." Daud said as he left her as Tabitha took a seat alone on an empty table. Tabitha watched him disappear around a corner before resigning herself to sitting alone. Daud was an Assassin. Not surprising. He killed someone he shouldn't have and seemed regretful. Was that a confirmation? Or was that something completely unrelated? She didn't know yet.

It was when her familiar was gone that she turned her attention to the mark on her hand that her glove hid from the sight of others. It was just like Daud's and according to him; it would grant her magical abilities like the one he showed her this morning. Teleportation, Stopping Time, Telekinesis, and some sort of detection magic.

She felt… a little excitement budding inside her. She was so very tempted to test out the powers of the mark… but she also understood caution and patience. It was better to wait for someone who knew how to use the mark properly to teach her rather than trek out on her own. That way, mistakes can be corrected and there would be less danger.

And she might now have a name for that _thing_. The Outsider as Daud called it. The Outsider had mentioned her stealing one of his marked, who she assumed was Daud, and Daud said that his mark was given by the Outsider. So…

Her internal thoughts were then distracted by two voices: one female voice she recognised and another male one she barely knew. Pulling out chairs at her table, Louise seated herself on her table while chastising her familiar over something. It was only when Louise mentioned getting special permission for her familiar to be in the hall that she paid real attention to them.

"Can do that?" Tabitha inquired of Louise. If that was the case then it might be best to arrange for Daud to eat in the hall with her. Of course he would still have to be fed the same food as the commoners. The other students would likely take offense otherwise and Daud seemed content with the kitchen's staff's food anyway.

"Huh? Uh, yes. We have to get permission from Miss Longueville." Louise answered after a moment of surprise. Miss Longueville; the secretary of the Headmaster and mage of unknown rank. She was friendly enough to everyone but it was also an open secret that she regularly 'punished' the Headmaster for his perverted advances on her. Of course no said a thing given that she was quite justified in doing so.

Tabitha nodded her thanks. The servants were coming in now with all the dishes of posh food and… she could hear the heavy breathing of Louise's familiar. Glancing at him, she saw that he was almost drooling out of his mouth at the sight of the food before straightening up and looking much more dignified as the food was served.

It was only an argument later with his master than the familiar of Louise ended on the floor with a bowl. Said bowl contained some thin soup and a few scraps of meat that looked mostly like fat and half a loaf of hard bread on the edge. It was… rather Spartan and bare really. But how Louise chose to treat her familiar was no affair of hers.

When it came to the prayer before the meal, Tabitha mouthed only the prayers to the Founder and only him. The Queen of Tristain was not her monarch and she saw no reason to pray to the King of Gallia, her issues with him notwithstanding. It was generally frowned upon to pray for your own monarch in a foreign country.

It was halfway through the first breakfast course that Daud returned to her. He took a quick look at Louise and… her familiar was missing. The former assassin took a seat next to her without another word; given how the table was empty except for her and Louise, there was no protest from anyone else.

"Finished eating?" Tabitha asked him when her mouth was clear of food. That was rather quick of her familiar; she had expected him to take a bit longer with eating. Perhaps his breakfast was less than she anticipated or perhaps he was just a fast eater.

"Yes." Daud replied. Given by how he was looking and analysing just about everything in the hall; she supposed that this was him scouting it out for those transversals. He did say that one needed to be familiar with the targeted locale after all.

The breakfast meal that the cooks prepared was well decorated and delicious as usual. So with only a quick nod of acknowledgement to Daud she continued with her meal. In the meantime Daud continued with his constant scanning of the room.

"Tabitha, how do you manage to control your familiar so well?" Louise suddenly spoke up from her other side. The pink haired girl had momentarily put down her chicken and was now looking with new found interest at Tabitha and Daud. From what she had seen; her relation with Daud was much more stable than Louise's relation with her familiar which seemed very volatile.

"Asked him." Tabitha answered her. That was a much dumbed down answer and that relied heavily on Daud actually being willing. If the Outsider was to be believed; Daud had lost a purpose in life and she just managed to conveniently give him one. It was… highly unlikely that Louise's familiar was the same.

"You asked him?" Louise asked in surprise. Her pink eyes widening in shock at how simple a solution it appeared to be. In truth, it was likely too late for Louise to attempt that with her familiar. In fact it might actually be counterproductive now.

"Yes." Tabitha confirmed with a slight nod. But then she was also somewhat unsure if Louise would even try regardless. Asking her familiar, which by law was her property, if he wanted to serve as her familiar may seem demeaning to a noble.

"Just like that?" Louise asked again for confirmation. Thought given Louise's sudden eagerness over this; she might just swallow that pride for a more obedient familiar.

"Yes." Tabitha repeated herself again with an extra nod for emphasis. What more did Louise want?

"And that's it?" Louise asked for confirmation a third time. It was as if the other two times just fell upon deaf ears.

"It helped that I was willing." This time it was Daud who answered on her behalf. The former assassin had a bored expression on his face as he looked over Louise. He then pointed to grouping of students further down the hall. "And your guy seems to be in some sort of argument."

Louise looked irritated at how Daud was addressing her before his words gave her pause. With a slow turn of her head, she saw her familiar embroiled in a heated argument with someone while the idiot's friends were laughing on. And with a few curses, she quickly finished off the rest of her food and swept herself off to her familiar.

"She seemed pleasant enough." Daud sarcastically remarked as he watched Louise push through the small crowd. Tabitha gave a short look at the crowd and the sound of the growing argument was already reaching here. Then she took another bite of her chicken because it was not of her business. It was already odd that no member of faculty had intervened.

"What's argument about?" Tabitha asked Daud. It was rare for an argument to get so loud that she could make out words from across the Alviss Hall. Even rarer for a commoner to get into with a noble though she supposed that Louise's familiar was not completely aware of normal conventions yet.

"Multiple lovers and broken pride." Daud summed up as a reply. That… sounded like Guiche. Though why he would be in an argument with Louise's familiar she couldn't imagine. If it had been with a female student then that would make much more sense.

"Guiche?" Tabitha asked for confirmation on the subject. Perhaps she was wrong and it was someone else; cheating on someone was not something exclusively always Guiche. It just happened to be him most of the time.

"Does he have curly blonde hair and carries a rose?" Daud asked her in turn. Right, Daud would not know who Guiche was. Still, while blonde hair was common enough there was only a single mage in the school that traded a proper wand or staff for a rose.

"Yes." Tabitha answered. There was only one person in school that carried around a rose as a wand at all times. A rose was not as efficient or effective as a wand or staff but it was serviceable. Though Guiche would not care much for practicality and was likely using it for its aesthetic nature.

"Then it's him." Daud said as he suddenly grimaced. Tabitha piqued her head in curiosity. She could only hear muffled words from her but Daud could apparently hear it easily. And whatever was said caught his attention. "You're allowed to duel here?"

"No." Tabitha replied. It was against Tristainian law for two nobles to duel. That Guiche had called on one was surprising to her; she wouldn't have thought he would go so far. But then… Louise's familiar didn't count as a noble and would thus not be included under that law. Though who would ever imagine that a noble would lower himself to duel a commoner?

"That doesn't seem to be stopping them." Daud commented as Tabitha finished her meal and got off her seat. With only a small tug on Daud's coat as an indicator; she walked off towards the crowd. "You're going to stop them?"

"No." Tabitha replied. This was just going to be an opportunity to observe Louise's familiar in action. And perhaps if chance would have it; she might also be able to found out what runes he had. It would be meaningless to her really; but it would be interesting to know regardless. "Just watch."

Daud gave a shrug as he followed after her. The crowd was moving now, leaving out the large double doors. There would be at least an hour before the next class and they likely planned to use that time to perform the duel.

Not knowing where the duel was going to be situated, she just followed the crowd. Given the number of students coming to watch the duel like it was novelty entertainment; it was not difficult to do so. And the final destination appeared to be the Vestri Court where there was now a growing ring of students from all years.

"There's a betting table." Daud observed from the students, inclining his head in the direction of where two students were arranging bets. Tabitha ignored them, she had no idea on who was going to win this duel. On one hand Louise's familiar had done nothing to indicate he knew how to fight but then she was also fairly certain he was a familiar of the Void and thus must have some sort of special ability.

"I'm impressed you came commoner." Guiche's loud voice rang across the field. Finally pushing their way through to the front, thanks to Daud being taller and bigger than most others present, Tabitha managed to get a good view of Guiche twirling his rose as he faced the familiar of Louise.

"Like anyone would run away from a two-timer like you!" the familiar shouted back. A satisfied grin broke on his face when there was a burst of laughter from the crowd and an angry scowl broke out on Guiche's face.

"Let us begin." Guiche said darkly as he let a petal fall to the ground just as Louise's familiar charged headfirst at him. In only a manner of seconds Guiche's petal turned into his trademark golems, or Valkyries as he liked to dub them, and Louise's familiar was immediately on the defensive.

Or rather, he was punched hard in the stomach and sent hurtling to the ground. The familiar laid still on the ground clutching at his stomach, emptying what meagre breakfast he had today.

"Oh! I forgot to mention. As a mage; I fight with magic and as my runic name is _Bronze_…" Guiche said in a sing song voice before darkening his tone. By his word the golem of his silently made its over to stand towering before Louise's familiar.

"And this is my Valkyrie." Guiche darkly said as he flourished his rose. Acting on Guiche's command, the Valkyrie pulled back a leg and kicked at Louise's familiar. A resounding loud choke could be heard from him as the air was knocked out of him and his body was sent skidding across the dirt floor.

"What, over already?" Guiche taunted from the other side of the duel, behind the protection of his golem. As if hearing Guiche's mocking words, the familiar painstakingly pushed himself off the ground, heavily panting as he did so. The golem didn't make its move until the familiar was back onto its feet.

Another swing from the bronze fist of the golem which struck the familiar in the face and the familiar was sent reeling back again. Blood now splattered over his face from his broken nose. Yet despite his wobbly legs and the tears in his eyes; he remained standing.

"Guiche! Stop this! Duelling is against the law!" Louise screamed out red faced as she ran out onto the duelling ground. She struggled to pull back her familiar who looked barely conscious now and was already teetering on his unstable feet. It was likely that another blow would render him unconscious.

"Not at all. Law only forbids duels between nobles. Not duels between nobles and commoners." Guiche pointed out with a light smile. With an extravagant flourish of his rose, his golem retreated to stand beside Guiche giving the familiar of Louise plenty of space.

Louise was flabbergasted at this and her familiar decided at the moment to press on with a weak shove to push Louise away; her familiar stumbled forward towards Guiche again. Guiche let him get a bit closer this time; even to the point of touching his Valkyrie before his golem finally acted and slammed a fist into the familiar's chest.

The familiar of Louise sprang back and landed heavily on the ground. Tabitha frowned as he struggled to get back up despite what was likely numerous broken bones. He had stubbornness and stupidity mixed together and if he kept going he might actually die from this.

"Uncomfortable with watching this?" Daud spoke up suddenly. Was she uncomfortable with watching someone being pummelled to the ground against someone clearly superior?

"Slightly." Tabitha replied with forced impassivity. It was… off putting and she wasn't alone in this sentiment given how some of the other students were now looking on awkwardly. Like her, they were probably unsure of whether they should do something about it. But then what could they do?

The epiphany struck her fast. She had a solution which would put an end to this duel and allow her to win money in the process. Assuming, of course, that Daud was willing to go through with it and win. "Daud?"

"Hmm?" Daud turned his head to her. His attention split between watching the lopsided duel and his master.

"Can you win against Guiche?" she asked. What she would be asking him would place him in danger and if he wasn't certain he would win then she wouldn't ask him to do so.

Daud turned his gaze to Guiche who was busy making a show for the crowd. His gaze squaring up the blonde and focusing mostly on his rose and the golem of his. "he needs that rose to use magic right?"

"Yes." Tabitha answered him. Did he intend to disarm Guiche? That would be difficult given that he would have to close the distance between them first and Guiche had that golem in the way.

"Then I should be able to." Daud nodded as he sized up Guiche again. His hand gently brushing his gun much to Tabitha's surprise. Hitting Guiche with a gun, even at this distance, would be difficult. Those types of weapons were meant to be used in a mass volley of lead into a formation of men rather than targeting individual targets.

"Provoke Guiche. Will bet money. You win. Profit." Tabitha explained regardless. She would trust the Daud knew how to use his weapons best. And it was just a brush of his gun; it might mean nothing at all.

"Will it be enough to get a bed?" Daud asked her. It should be enough for a proper bed. She was planning to buy one with the winning money anyhow. The rest she intended to split between them.

"Likely. Don't use…" she lifted the hand which had the Outsider's mark. She didn't want to go about revealing strange and unknown magic to what seemed to be half the student body. It would be risky if the Church ever decided to investigate.

"Alright." Daud muttered under his breath as he broke out of the crowd and into the duelling ground. Those students nearest to him quietened down as he advanced past them and there was eventual silence from the crowd as he stood in front of the boy. Placing himself between the half dead familiar and his crying master and the other blonde mage and his bronze thing.

"Oh! And who might you be?" Guiche asked him with mocking politeness as Daud faced him. The Valkyrie backing off away and returning to its master; standing beside him. Good, that would make things easier for him.

"Someone who got tired of watching you being an ass." Daud coldly replied to him. This was as much of a provocation as it was the truth. Guiche was in the wrong with cheating on two women and was now trying to cover it up by focusing the crowd's attention on him beating the crap out of the boy.

"Ah, it seems that every commoner today wants to mock a noble." Guiche gave out a mock sigh of depression and shake of his head. With yet another dull flourish of his rose; Guiche said. "Do I have to-"

"Noble? Where?" Daud interrupted him with a step forward. He took notice of Louise dragging her familiar away with the help of Tabitha and this other girl he didn't know. "All I see is a snivelling little brat who's trying to hide his shame and broken pride behind a cocky mask."

There was an unearthly quiet as his words rang across the field. The heads of the onlookers were turned towards Guiche now; waiting and watching for his response to his insult and rather obvious taunt. Said blonde was now red and fuming with barely contained rage. "How… Dare you!"

"Can't handle the truth? Not surprising. Cowards comfort themselves with lies instead of facing the harsh truth." Daud asked then stated his opinion with a sneer.

"It looks like I have to teach another commoner a lesson in knowing his betters." Guiche said with bated breath as he levelled his rose against Daud. He in turn just kept a mocking smile on his face as he placed a hand over his blade and his other over his gun. He had fifteen bullets as per usual and if he did this right; he would only need one.

The blonde mage looked to be radiating red hostility and boiling rage as he did one last flourish with his rose. The Valkyrie, golem, next to him pushing itself down to a ready stance. It would need only an order from its masters to pounce on him.

"Let us begin." Guiche said coldly. He directed his rose at Daud and his Valkyrie started its charge. But Daud was already ahead.

At the word 'Let', Daud was already drawing his gun. At 'us', he was already lining his target in his sights. And at 'begin', he was already pulling the trigger.

The gunshot went off at the same time that Guiche's Valkyrie shot forward. But as inhumanly fast as his golem was; his bullet was faster. Much, much faster.

"Gyaaaaah!" Guiche screamed as the bullet tore through his hand. At least two of his fingers had been blasted off and there was now a gory hole in the hand that carried the rose. Predictably, he dropped said rose as be collapsed to his knees, cradling the torn up hand with his other one.

Wasting no time, Daud broke into a sudden dash at Guiche. He needed to get there before the blonde could pick back up the rose with his other hand. A shot to the head would have been much easier but there were just so many reasons why killing a student of this academy was not a good idea.

It seemed his worry was over nothing as Guiche didn't seem to be able to recover from the disablement of his hand. But… it was best to be sure. The noble had been cleanly beating the boy from before so… it was without remorse than he planted the tip of his boot onto the face of the crying boy.

"Yield?" he growled as he stood atop the blonde. His gun trained on his head as insurance rather than an actual threat. If he was going to shoot the boy again, his target would be the other hand. With both hands crippled, he wouldn't be able to use magic against him.

"Hiiii!" the wounded boy made some inaudible noise as he tried to scramble away from underneath him. He wasn't really making a move for the rose on the ground but he also wasn't giving up in his panic. Hence to stop the 'duel' he delivered another kick to the boy's head. This time knocking him out cold and probably breaking his nose as well. It would explain the blood on his boot.

Getting off of the blonde boy, he was unsurprised to see that many of the students were now quiet. Ignoring them he grinded his boot on the ground to get rid of the blood before walking back towards Tabitha. In fact, his own master seemed a bit surprised about something. Hadn't he told her that he would win?

"…Good shot?" Tabitha unsurely praised as he returned to her side. Daud gave a nod of acknowledgment in return. The crowds were thinning now and same blonde girl from before was rushing up to the downed Guiche's side. "How much?"

"347 new gold coins." Tabitha answered. That was the amount that the student in charge of the betting reluctantly parted with. Though there were a few other smart individuals that had apparently bet on Daud rather than Guiche; the amount of winnings was still significant.

"I suppose that's a lot?" Daud asked. 347 coins back in Dunwall was quite a bit for the average citizen. Though, like the measurement system, the monetary values might also be different.

"Yes." Tabitha nodded slightly, acutely aware of all the looks they were now getting. "It's enough for a bed."

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**Please read and review. Criticism would be accepted. If you dislike this chapter in anyway and want to review; could you not just put a one liner and give reasons, advice, critique as it would be very helpful to know. **

**Also Guest review. I know my avatar is awesome.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I for one, believe that I need far more practice with writing fighting scenes. If anyone has any advice for such; do share it please. I would also mention now that this fiction is going to be AU considering the number of things I had to change around. I also, sadly, couldn't reach 10k with this unless I added tons of more needless tidbits. **

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Tabitha's body formed in a flicker of fading ash atop the outer wall of the Academy where Daud was waiting for her. Sweat dripped off of her hair as she finished her transversal; she had been performing continuous transversals for hours now and it was taking its toll on her willpower. It had been days since she had first learned to use transversals but even so…

"Still not fast enough." Daud stated as a fact. Tabitha nodded resolutely in return. The current speed that she could perform a transversal was only 'acceptable' to Daud and would suffice for most occasions. But she wanted to achieve mastery over it and that would mean being able to use transversals as a reflex. According to Daud; that meant being able to use a transversal to dodge a bullet at close range. She hoped he wasn't planning on using that as a test of her abilities.

"Stop?" Tabitha asked him. She was exhausted and doubted her will power would allow for much more transversals tonight. That and she was certain that Daud knew this fact. He never seemed enthusiastic on training her till she dropped. But then, he never seemed enthusiastic about anything.

"Yes. It's late enough." Daud replied. He, on the other hand, seemed no less weary than when they had started this exercise; a few hours after dinner. Most students would be asleep by then and the servants should be packing up or finishing their remaining duties. There should be no one to see them but Daud seemed intent on checking regardless.

She closed her eyes and she steadied her heart beat and breathing. Transversals weren't really physically intensive and were not individually draining on her will power. But Daud's training regime required her to perform consecutive transversals as she struggled to keep up with him.

The maximum travel distance of a transversal was approximately 125 mails, or 100 metres by Daud's standards of measurement. Daud seemed to be able to do those effortlessly, she didn't know how he could have memorised the entire Academy in just a day, while her lack of knowledge on the intricate details of the Academy premise limited her range greatly. The entire night had been spent in what was essentially a game of catch up.

"Isn't that your friends over there?" Daud suddenly asked, directing her attention to just below the vault tower. Squinting her eyes behind the glasses, she could make out four distinct forms at the base of the tower. And despite the darkness of the night, the long red hair of Kirche and the curly pink hair of Louise was unmistakable.

Tabitha said nothing as reply. Louise seemed to unconsciously find her way to herself often enough and the pink haired girl was friendly enough. But their interactions seemed to be mostly polite questions. She suspected that Louise simply interacted with her because she didn't spurn her like most of the class and didn't want to test their meagre relation in fear of her joining in with the rest of the class.

And as for Kirche; she had rarely actually spoke to the Germanian. All she knew of her was that she claimed to be a triangle fire class mage and her reputation among the male population of the school. And then there were the darker rumours about why she was this Academy.

However she did know Louise and Kirche were rivals and most certainly not friends. So what they would be doing together at night, with their two familiars, was a mystery to her.

The two of them watched in silence from their roof top perch as Louise and Kirche, plus human boy and the fire dragon familiars respectively, moved to the bottom of the tower. There seemed to be an argument of some sort, indicated with the waving of arms from Louise and the haughty gestures by Kirche and then some sort of agreement as both sides calmed down.

"Can you hear them?" Tabitha asked Daud. She knew that he could hear further than she could though whether that was part of his supernatural skill set or just his training as an assassin she didn't know. But then again, they were quite apart.

"They're too far." Daud stated in reply after a moment. Tabitha nodded in understanding. The distance between them was quite extreme given that they were on the outer wall and they were right next to the centre of the Academy. She actually wouldn't have noticed them in the dark if Daud hadn't mentioned it.

"Get closer?" Tabitha questioned. She was curious as to why those two, of all people, were doing this late out at night. It certainly wouldn't be just to have a friendly conversation; not this late at night.

"You want to?" Daud replied with his own question. He didn't appear interested in the least with this choice. But then he had never appeared interested in any of her class mates; not helped by the fact that some of them seemed to be quite afraid of him. His quick fight with Guiche had quite a lot of impact.

"Yes." She stated more firmly this time. Without another word she took grip of Daud's coat. With only a nod as acknowledgement from her familiar; Daud performed a transversal to get them away from the wall. It was easier for him to perform the transversal; if they both individually did one then there was no guarantee that they would end up in the same spot.

They appeared from ash in a bush, next to the bend in the wall, the joint that connected the main building of the Academy and the corridor that linked to the Servant's Quarters. That was a subtle benefit of learning how to maximise the use of transversals. As Daud had taught, one needs to think of the locale and having it in sight and focusing on it will limit the potential of a transversal. Thus Daud had taken the time with her to properly familiarise her with the Academy in more exact detail.

It was surprising how little of the Academy that she actually knew. The servant's quarters were split in two; for male and female just like the student dorms. The top of the vault tower had a roosting owls. The Tower of the Void was apparently a common spot for lovers who wanted a secret tumble at night. And then, she was certain that her knowledge over the premises was still not complete.

Now if she recalled correctly then the vault tower was around the bend on the main building's side. Taking a more intricate route around the bush, that Daud deemed to transverse them to, she dusted off her clothes before rounding the corner. She then stopped mid-step and began quietly fretting.

How?

She was curious to learn what her two classmates, who profess each other as their rival, were doing outside the vault tower so late at night. But how was she going to learn that reason? The available options processed through her mind and the one option she was the most apprehensive about appeared to dually be the easiest option. She could simply just walk up and ask them.

But then it would impolite and odd to simply just do that. They may also ask why she was out here so late at night with her own familiar. She already had an excuse prepared but it seemed rather weak. A late night walk didn't extend to such late hours of night.

She would consequently be drawn into a deeper conversation with them and then she would be in trouble. And she had no idea on how to properly socialise with her class mates. She had no idea what Kirche liked, outside of perhaps sex maybe? And she supposed that Louise liked studying? Her grades in everything non practical were always very high.

Tabitha damned her isolation from the rest of her class at this moment. She had not particularly enjoyed being alone in all events and classes but had accepted it for what it was; she never was a very social person. Her own apparent lack of interest in integrating with the rest of the class most likely only articulated the fa-

"They see us." Daud noted in a quiet tone that only she could hear. Her thoughts cut off by the interruption, she blinked when comprehension came upon her. It was only then that she noticed Kirche, Louise and their familiar now looking at them in surprise.

"Tabitha?" Louise said her name in surprise. Tabitha quickly rearranged her thoughts and came to a conclusion over her next choice of action. Her options were just limited to this one and she would simply have to take the chance.

"Yes." Tabitha said with a nod of acknowledgement. Her expressionless face unconsciously returning to her as she hurriedly walked closer to the trio of humans and the sole fire dragon.

"What are you doing this late?" Louise asked her. It was the questioned that she would prefer not to really answer. The truth, leaning magic completely unrelated to the Founder Brimir, would only bring unnecessary attention to her and lying… well, her lie was a bad one.

"Night walk." Tabitha said the lame excuse with a straight face regardless. That was… technically true if one put more thought into it. She did, in fact, walk around at night.

"Th-"Louise understandably tried to get more information before Tabitha cut her off mid-sentence.

"You?" Tabitha asked them in reply. She indicated to: Kirche, her dragon which, for unknown reasons, held two swords in its mouth and Louise's familiar. It was the human familiar that really drew her attention for he was tied up across the chest with rope and with a loose end drooping to the ground.

"Ah." Louise made a noise before flushing a slight red. She then cast a quick glance back at her familiar before staying silent. It appeared that she did not want to share nor did she look too confident. That was not too out of the ordinary.

"We're deciding which sword Saito gets!" Kirche answered for her enthusiastically. She, on the other hand, was more than willing to divulge what they were doing. And like Louise before her, she cast a more confident look at Louise's familiar.

"Rope?" Tabitha questioned, pointing a hand at the rope that Saito, assuming that's the name of Louise's familiar. It was likely to be part of how they decide on whose sword that Saito would receive but she couldn't imagine how. In fact, why would Kirche have a sword to gift to Louise's familiar anyhow? Was it some sort of indirect insult to Louise?

"That's the contest." Louise offered up to her. The pink haired girl shivered for a moment, though whether it was from the cold of night or something else entirely was unknown. The shivering then stopped and Louise straightened her back and looked forward. With a new resolute look on her eyes, she turned back to face Kirche.

Meanwhile Tabitha tilted her head in puzzlement over all of this. She had only wanted to know what they were up to. And now that she knew it was a contest of some sort, her business was done and she wanted to return to bed.

"Just watch. You can be our witness as I defeat Valliere!" Kirche declared as she snubbed at Louise and cut off any chance of leaving quietly. Tabitha just quietly stepped back to observe, only making passing note of Daud moving behind her as usual. She was now a sudden witness to an event of which she still had no idea of.

"I won't lose Zerbst." Louise said with steel in her voice. Yet despite her words, Louise didn't exactly radiate confidence in winning this contest. This was a stance that Louise seemed to always go through; the false confidence and dim hope always preceded the crushing defeat of failure. It was rather painful to watch.

"Ho! ho! Confident are we? Well then, I best set it up." Kirche haughtily said as he make a mocking laugh at Louise's expense. The Germanian then whipped out a wand which she used to burst herself up into the air with a small tornado of flame. It was really just levitation and some flames but impressive to look at nevertheless.

"Flame!" Kirche called out with flair. The fire dragon, understanding its cue, leaped off the ground and swept underneath Kirche. Kirche slowly let her body fall to land perfectly on her familiar; a proud smirk clear on her lips.

"And now…" Kirche then pointed her wand at Saito. The familiar of Louise was looking far more uneasy with whatever they were doing. To the point that he appeared to be outright against whatever their contest was.

"Hey… are you guys serious?" Saito uttered with disbelief. Those were the only words he got out before the loose end of the rope was yanked upwards towards Kirche with an invisible force. Again, simple levitation from Kirche.

"Waaaagh!" Saito screamed as his legs collapsed in a vain attempt to stay rooted to the ground. He left only tracks of dragging on the dirt as he was rapidly hoisted up into the air by Kirche. His scream persisting until he was left dangling high up along the tower wall.

Tabitha had to strain her neck to see Louise's familiar now, his body swinging slightly as Kirche and her dragon drifted back down to the ground. She still hadn't deciphered what the contest was but it seemed to have taken a far more extreme turn. Unless this was some sort of traditional game in Tristain and Germania and while she doubted it would be that far-fetched; there were always those rumours about Germania.

And as she recalled, Saito only recently got out of the healers room the other day, three days after Guiche had to get his hand healed after his brief lost to Daud. Dangling him around two thirds of the way up a tall tower seemed very detrimental to his long term health.

"Done." Kirche announced as she landed back onto the ground. But while she was on the ground, her fire dragon flew back up into the air and hovered underneath Saito.

"Dangerous." Was the only comment that Tabitha offered. Having the dragon underneath Saito meant they expected him to fall. That itself meant this could be a potentially fatal contest. For Saito, that is.

"Oh, don't worry. Flame will catch him when he falls." Kirche reassured her with a dismissive wave of the hand. Her wand was now back out in her hand as she seemed to be testing her aim at Saito.

Tabitha looked up again at 'Flame', Kirche's fire dragon. It was a very generic name. And he didn't seem to have a saddle. A fire dragon had very hard scales so it would hurt when Saito landed on him. Nor did Saito have his hands free to catch himself; he might continue his fall regardless. "Very dangerous. Should stop."

"No. It's fine." Louise agreed with Kirche as she too brought out a wand. Tabitha blinked in surprise at Louise's agreement. It seemed counterproductive to unnecessarily risk the life of the one you were fighting over. This was still an argument over the sword he received, correct?

"Well, Louise. Since you're so confident; I'll let you go first." Kirche politely allowed with a smile. "There's no restriction on the type of spell but you only have once chance since I won't fail."

Louise didn't deign to answer as she brandished her wand at Saito. Her eyes squinting through the darkness as she concentrated. They were now aiming their wands at Saito and the only thing that Louise could do was explosions. Tabitha didn't know and did not really wish to know what would happen if she directly used an explosion on a living target.

"Trying to kill him?" Tabitha questioned now. Even if Louise's explosion didn't kill Saito, Kirche's fireballs would immolate him. But then they couldn't literally be trying to kill him?

"Trying to cut the rope." Kirche corrected for her. Tabitha hesitantly nodded in return. Cutting the rope might kill him regardless if Flame failed to catch him. That her class mates didn't seem to have any other fail safe in place didn't assuage her concerns.

Tabitha took a sudden step back and felt her back bump onto Daud like she had wanted. Turning her head, she caught his gaze and she indicated towards the still dangling Saito. "Catch him?"

"Only if the dragon fails." Daud stated neutrally. Satisfied with his answer, Tabitha took a step forward and returned to her witness position. She was confident that Daud could catch Saito if Flame failed. With the arsenal of powers at his disposal, she could envision several methods for him to do so.

She didn't hear what spell that Louise used but the effect was audible enough. Tabitha knew that she would cast an explosion, no matter the spell she intended, and thus an explosion was cast at the vault tower. The blast was loud and the wall behind Saito made a cobweb of cracks. The shockwave of the explosions swung Saito wildly around the tower.

"What the hell! Are you trying to kill me!?" Saito crazy scream drifted down to them as he continued his random swinging. It was miraculous that he hadn't swung away from the tower and slammed into the wall. She had honestly not thought of that possibility.

Kirche broke out into crazed laughter as Louise lowered her wand, the pink haired girl's focused on either the cracks on the tower or the swinging Saito. Her hands were shaking and her shoulders falling down in defeat. She knew that she had failed.

"You really are a Zero Louise! You broke the wall instead of the rope! Now that's talent!" Kirche mocked as her laughter subsided into broken chuckles. Tabitha could only marvel at how true Kirche's words were and how she didn't realise the extent of what Louise just did. She supposed that she could manage the same feat but seeing how easily their explosions damaged a wall reinforced by generations of square class mages was impressive nevertheless. Likely the force and the power of the explosion did the real damage to the wall. The dispelling effect that void explosions seemed to have likely negating all the warding and reinforcement by the mages.

"Oh God, my sides hurt." Finished with her laughter, she swept her wand up towards Saito with an easy smile. "Now it's my turn."

Chanting the spell for a fireball, Kirche traced her aim with the still swaying rope. In just a moment, a small fire ball was released and flew at the rope. Striking it dead on, the flames easily ate away at the rope and Saito was subsequently dropped. "Aaaaah!"

Reacting instantly, Flame moved to place himself in a fashion that Saito would land across him. With an audible grunt of pain, even from far below on the ground, Louise's familiar hit the back of the dragon. Thankfully despite the groan of pain from above, he seemed fine.

Seeing Kirche's success, Louise collapsed to her knees. Her head was held down and drips of water were now dampening the grass below her.

"I win Valliere!" Kirche announced in an earnest voice. She then beaconed for Flame to return to her; likely to claim her prize. Which was to give Saito her sword instead of Louise's. This did seem a rather silly issue to use this extreme method of a contest to decide it.

Upon hearing an unnaturally loud thumping loud from behind the group, Daud turned his head around to check what it was. He was less than impressed to have to strain his neck upwards to see the top of the massive golem that was now bearing down upon them. Fighting other mages, more powerful that Guiche, was something that he had expected; he had even thought over possible strategies on how to defeat them with minimal risk and maximum efficiency.

Such strategies mostly revolved around using stealth to eliminate the mages rather than a direct confrontation. However if a direct confrontation was impossible then he would use transversals and time stop to get closer and engage the mage in a melee; from there he would either have to disable their wand hand or use a tethering to take the wand from them.

So even if his ideas didn't really take into consideration a large golem; it should still work against even the mage perched on the golem's shoulder. It would just be more difficult to get to him. But that being said… what was that?

"Move!" He shouted out a loud warning as he broke off from his spot and hastily grabbed Tabitha by the arm. Pulling her down and placing himself in front; the projectile impacted with the wall of the tower and shattered. Brittle dirt rained down upon them with the occasional small rock but despite the quantity dropped on them; it was a rather weak attack not to mention it had missed.

Keeping a tight grip around her thin arm, he pulled her away from the group and towards where the doors back inside was. His first priority should be getting Tabitha to safety; the inside likely wasn't the safest place but it would be safer than remaining out in the open. When she was safely secured, then he could go for the mage.

There was a grimace on his face when there was the consequential cries and screams from everyone else present as they inevitably spotted the golem. Preferably, they would be able to escape on their own and their screaming might draw the attention of that Professor Colbert who seemed on guard nearby last night. A friendly mage that could do something against the golem would be helpful; all the better if he defeated the enemy mage himself.

"Hey! Hey! Don't leave me here!" Daud heard the panicking voice of Saito trail behind him; was he still tied up? Regardless, he pressed on while dragging a now running Tabitha. There was a brief look of surprise when she saw the red haired over taking him riding that dragon of hers, which was bounding past him with extraordinary speed. Couldn't the girl have brought the other two with her on the dragon?

"Stop, please." Tabitha said in a louder than usual voice. Daud considered the request. His mind told him that stopping probably wasn't a good idea but he had signed himself up as her familiar. There was a clause about obeying her every order or something wasn't there?

"Why?" Daud questioned as he started slowing himself down. He would compromise then; Tabitha must have a reason for wanting to stop. And depending on what her reason was, he may or may not stop.

"They're still there." Tabitha indicated back to the base of the tower. Lying on the ground was the bound familiar of Louise and the master herself was now desperately trying to free him. As soon as she pointed this out, Daud came to a stop. He already knew what she was going to ask of him. "Can you stop mage?"

"I can try... I can use this right?" Daud said as he released his grip on her and drew his blade out of its sheath. Him versus the huge golem and its master there. Well… he already put himself down the path as her familiar so he might as well go about meeting his obligations. And this would be much easier if he could use his mark and the abilities it granted.

"Yes. Will be back with help." The latter part was added as an afterthought after just a second of thought from Tabitha. That was all as she disappeared with a blink of ash.

Assuming she meant to bring help against the mage, Daud reversed his route and headed back towards the golem. His target was the mage directing the golem from atop its shoulders. He supposed that he was meant to save Tabitha's classmate and her familiar in the process.

Saito and Louise were stuck there until the latter could untie the former; that should be fast enough so he didn't need to worry about them. If they had any common sense then they would run as soon as possible.

The golem seemed to be approximately 30 to 35 metres in height; he was, predictably, not familiar with the air it was around right now and it was well above the height that he could reach with a more limited transversal. That meant, to get to the mage riding on it, he would have to scale the golem.

There was a wide given berth between him and golem as he sprinted past it. He made nary a sound as he swiftly treaded through the Vestri Court and rounded behind the golem. With void gaze, he had kept watch over the mage; if he noticed him flanking him then it would be a bit more difficult but only a bit. The mage didn't notice though. That was his mistake.

He jogged as he simply kept up with the pace that the golem was moving at. His eyes following the systematic movements of its nearest arm. And when it was in the right position. He jumped.

Far higher than any natural man could, he reached the peak height of his jump which was roughly the height of its knee. This was when his mark glowed its unholy light and the world turned to shades of grey. All movement stopped and the rock arm ceased its swinging; he knew where he wanted to go.

He appeared in a hush of ash atop the swinging rock arm, where a man's elbow would be, as colour returned and movement began. Currently, his perch was behind the golem's shoulder and outside the mage's field of view; this was exactly how he wanted it to be.

Reaching the highest point that he could with the back swing of the golem's arm, he willed power into his mark again. With the changing of colours and the stopping of time, he made the second transversal upwards.

He reappeared atop the shoulder of the golem, the one unoccupied by the mage. Wasting no time with looking around, her precariously rushed at the head of the golem and jumped above it. Landing quietly on the uneven surface, he smiled when he saw that the mage hadn't noticed him and was focusing his attention on the tower for whatever reason. There was just so many options that he could take from here.

Killing him would be the easiest, it would be swift and he wouldn't have to worry about restraining him at all. But…

His mark glowed again as he prepared to perform a tethering on the wand that the mage was using. The mage hadn't done much damage and likely the Academy would prefer to keep him alive for questioning. So taking him alive it was.

There was a feminine cry of surprise from the mage as the wand was yanked out of her hand as Daud dropped it to the ground. Taking this moment, he began.

It was when he was about to step off the head that he saw the mage was hurriedly reaching into her cloak and was in the midst of withdrawing another wand. But he would get him before the mage could cast a spell. He would have to repeat what he did with Guiche except with his blade this time.

And then the head of the golem exploded. The shockwave knocking him off balance and he tumbled down and landed hard on his side just beside the enemy mage. Said mage paid little attention to him as she crouched down and tried to maintain her own footing. Certain that he couldn't get up faster than the mage could recover, he rolled himself off the shoulder and let himself fall.

Tabitha returned to the field in a blink of ash. Her staff now firmly held in her hands as she ran back to where the golem was. It was with annoyance that she noted that Louise and her familiar were still stuck at the base of the tower. And it was with shock that she saw Louise use a spell that blew up the golem's head right when Daud was on it, throwing off the golem.

She heaved a sigh of relief, however, when Daud turned into ash mid fall. If he managed to use a transversal to get away then he should be fine. She didn't bother searching for him and was instead pressed for concern as the golem was now right on top of Louise and Saito.

Taking a deep breath first, she concentrated on the golem. Designating invisible targets visible only in her mind, she pointed her staff at the golem and began to chant. The golem was bipedal and so to bring it down, she would take apart the legs it stood on and destroy its foundation. "_Explosion._"

As expected, twin blasts detonated around the golem's knees in an instant. The solid rock that made up the knee section shattered into innumerable pieces and the golem collapsed under its own weight. She doubted that the mage, who she suspected was the infamous Fouquet, could repair the golem before it fell apart and collapsed to the ground.

It should have been all well. Fouquet's massive golem would fall upon itself and break apart. But life seemed to just find ways to prove her wrong. The problem now was that the golem was falling down; falling down in the direction of the tower. Where Louise and Saito, their jaws aback with horror, still was.

As Tabitha tried to think of how she could destroy all the rock before it crushed her classmate; there was a rush of wind which swooped over her head. A red scaled form leading it as Kirche and her Fire Dragon hurtled towards Louise and Saito, desperately trying to get to them before they were crushed underneath the forthcoming landslide of rock.

She sagged her shoulders in relief as Flame grabbed both Saito and Louise with its talons and forcefully dragged them both away from the crumbling… dirt?

Tabitha kept moving closer as she saw that, indeed, the falling golem had turned to dirt and was now forming a mound of dirt at the base of the tower. . But then, where was Fouquet? She scanned the area around it and failed to spot anything that resembled the thief.

"Tabitha!" Kirche called out to her as her dragon hovered overhead. Her dragon deposited its two awkwardly held passengers from its talons before landing and allowing his own master to dismount. "Where's your familiar?"

"Here." She heard a gruff voice call out from behind. Daud was walking back up to them out of the shadows, his leg dragging slightly behind him. His clothes were covered in dirt and twigs were sticking out of his coat. But he seemed mostly fine.

"She's underground." Daud mumbled in a soft voice only she could hear. Fouquet was female? That didn't really matter. But Fouquet was now underground and was now making an escape, likely be tunnelling her way out. So when the golem turned to dirt, she had already given up? "Want me to go after her?"

Should she send Daud after Fouquet? Revising what she had seen; Daud had managed to sneak up on Fouquet and seemed to be about to disable her just before Louise blasted apart his platform. Was that not an indicator that Daud could take down Fouquet?

"No." Tabitha decided. Fouquet hadn't noticed Daud because she naturally thought that a commoner couldn't climb his way up her golem to reach her. The thief would likely be more vigilant now and in an underground tunnel; it would be greatly lopsided in Fouquet's favour.

The prestige and honour of capturing or killing the infamous Fouquet of the Crumbling Dirt… wasn't worth risking Daud's life over. One was irreplaceable. And there were many more opportunities to achieve the other in life. It wasn't like she needed prestige or honour anyhow.

* * *

"I expected better of students of this humble Academy." The Headmaster, nickname Old Osmond of all things, reprimanded the three students brought before him in his office. All three girls stood in front of his desk with their heads down while Daud and Saito stood at the sidelines.

Honestly, it was the Headmaster's secretary, Miss Longueville, which interested him right now. He had seen a green hair from the mage, Fouquet according to Tabitha, and the mage was also female. Miss Longueville had green hair and was also obviously female.

If he was a nicer man, he wouldn't be suspicious about that at all. After all, there could be plenty of female mages with green hair and a perchance for golems around. It could just be a mere coincidence that she just also happened to be the same height and build as the thief.

Still, all he had right now was a suspicion. While he had acted on mere suspicion alone back in his old days, he couldn't do the same now; he wasn't a criminal anymore. Or at least he wasn't yet, that blonde girl threated legal action against him for hurting Guiche though Tabitha reassured him that nothing would come out of it.

And there wasn't any proof aside from him seeing green hair anyway. And between him, a former criminal assassin who has killed nobles in the dozens, and her, the trusted secretary of the Headmaster of the most prestigious magic school in the country, she was going to be seen as the far more reliable person.

"But we drove off Fouquet!" Kirche protested. That was a bad idea. He had never been to school before but the staffs were essentially the authority of the school. And you don't argue with authority unless you had bigger guns that they did.

A slight movement on the ground drew his attention to the floor. Crawling out from underneath the Headmaster's desk was a small mouse. It scurried around and stopped directly underneath Kirche, its head looking up. Daud wanted to step on it but restrained himself; this wasn't plague rat infested Dunwall anymore. He didn't need to go avoiding rats or killing them to stop a plague. That and he doubted anyone would appreciate him leaving dead mice around.

"Yes. And I commend you for that." Headmaster Osmond said while he stroked his beard in approval. "Thanks to your combined efforts, the thief was unable to steal from the Academy vault which we suspect was his target."

Combined efforts… well, Kirche ran off at first and only at the end did she come back and save the two idiots. One of the said idiots stopped him from actually stopping the thief for good and Tabitha's explosion stopped the golem but endangered the two idiots but collapsing it on them. A great showing of their skill it was.

"I was even considering requesting the Royal Court to confer upon all of you the Elven Medallion for your efforts until I learned of why you were out so late at night." The Headmaster continued on, his tone serious. Noticeably there were quick glances at his secretary who was watching them intently. Why he would do so, Daud didn't know.

"What?" this time it was Louise who made the sudden outburst. There was a very shocked expression on her face as she said this, or at least shocked compared to the disappointment on Kirche and the impassiveness of Tabitha. "Why?"

"Your 'contest' yesterday night was extremely dangerous and showed a shocking disregard for the life of Miss Louise's familiar." The Headmaster explained to them. "Though I understand that you are all still young and full of energy, remember that you three are still nobles."

"But…"Louise tried to start before the Headmaster cut her off with his own rant. "And as nobles, the commoners will look to you for leadership and guidance. Where they are required to serve faithfully, you are required to lead with maturity and intelligence. Neither of which was evident last night."

All three girls flinched at the harsh words. Offhandedly, Daud wondered if the same speech was given to Guiche. The commoner in danger in both situations was the same person after all. Or was he safe since it was a duel, even if it was a lopsided one.

"In particular: Miss Valliere." The Headmaster singled out, much to the girl's fear. There were tears forming in her eyes now as the Headmaster continued. "Did you once regard how your familiar would feel about such a contest where his life was at risk?"

"But I'm fine." Saito spoke up from the sidelines. It was nice that he was trying to protect his master but by saying that, it indicated that he might be missing the point.

"That maybe so, but does that make the contest fine? What if Miss Zerbst Dragon had failed to catch you? What if her flame had struck you instead? There are so many ways that this could have ended fatally." The Headmaster silenced. He stopped speaking to let the severity of the situation sink in.

Another flurry of movement from below and Daud's eye was once again caught by the mouse. It was now moving underneath Tabitha and once again tilted its head upwards. Unusual behaviour from a mouse…

"Headmaster, the idea was mine. So if you have to punish anyone, punish me." Kirche then suddenly spoke up. All eyes were on her as the Germanian owned up to being the source of the problem.

"I see. But…" The Headmaster tried to say, a confused look on his face. But ultimately he was cut off by Louise much to his chagrin.

"No. It was my idea to have a contest in the first place. So it's my fault." A trembling Louise admitted her fault. It was clear that it was not easy for the girl but she, tried to, maintain a straight and stoic face as she faced the Headmaster.

"But I provoked you first. So it's my fault." Kirche added quickly, directing attention back on her. Has this become some sort of pseudo contest on who gets to take the blame?

"I took your sword off Saito first and started the argument. It's my fault Zerbst." Louise directed the blame back at herself. The trembling from earlier was still there, but less noticeable in her body language now.

"But then I came to your roo-" Kirche was about to argue that the blame was hers again before the Headmaster loudly cleared his throat and caught both of their attentions.

"It's commendable that you want to take the blame but you're all at fault. But given that you did chase away Fouquet; there will be no punishment as well as no rewards." The Headmaster praised and stated. And that statement made the entire one upping between the two girls redundant.

"Miss Zerbst and Miss Valliere, you both made bad choices that could have ended with someone dying. I trust that you will consider them better in the future?" The Headmaster asked them seriously. There was successive nodding of heads as both girls realized that punishment might not actually be forthcoming.

"And Miss Orleans; you should have stopped them from escalating their contest. Or failing that, inform a teacher." The Headmaster moved onto Tabitha. Tabitha only mutely nodded in response.

"Hey, Tabitha wasn't with us until the end!" Kirche suddenly interjected on Tabitha's behalf. Tabitha glanced at her in surprise.

"Is that so? From your explanations I assumed she was with you from the start." The Headmaster amiably accepted from her; his hard gaze softening now.

"No, she only joined up with us when we were already starting." Louise added on in Tabitha's defence. While not as heated as the Germanian, she seemed equally ready to defend Tabitha's non-involvement in this affair.

"If that is the case; then I apologise, Miss Orleans." Headmaster Osmond said with an incline of his head. There was a brief sound of triumph from Kirche but when the old headmaster looked at her; Kirche was silent again.

"It's fine." Tabitha softly accepted his reply. She bowed her head, though it was unclear who it was to.

"Well then. You're all dismissed. I believe it would be best for all of you to prepare for tonight's Ball of Frigg." The Headmaster dismissed them all. Nodding, the three girls left the room; the two human familiars flanking them.

"Thank you." Tabitha properly expressed her gratitude to her two classmates. Even if none of them were going to be in trouble, their testimonies were appreciated.

Louise only nodded as well. The pink haired girl unusually quiet and was sneaking glances back at her familiar as they walked back to the girl's dorm. There was a clear feeling of uncertainty around her as she tried to be stealthy with her glances, which was obvious to everyone else. The Headmaster's words had struck her.

"It's fine. You didn't do anything anyway." Kirche waved off with her usual vigour. "It's a shame we didn't get that medal though."

"Yeah…" Louise sadly said with some depression. Tabitha nodded in sympathy for Louise. While she personally believed that medals were just ornaments and had no real practical use to her; they would mean far more to the 'Zero'. For Louise, it would be a proof of accomplishment; proof that she wasn't useless.

"So Tabitha what dress are you wearing to the ball?" Kirche suddenly asked her, changing the subject. Tabitha thought over the question first. Wasn't that a question that female friends asked each other often? Did that mean that Kirche consider them friends? But she had done very little to become so.

"Black." Tabitha tentatively answered, looking at Kirche and measuring what her response would be. It was when she saw the expectant look on Kirche's face that she realized that she was supposed to ask something in return. "You?"

"Oh, I think I'll be going in passionate red. How about you, Valliere?"

"Thanks for helping me the other day." Saito said to Daud while the girl's babbled about girl things. He had only heard about it after from Louise, but Tabitha's familiar had stepped in and beat Daud in his place.

"Accepted." was the only response he received from the older man. Saito kept looking at him, waiting for another response before finally giving up and continued walking forward.

* * *

"Whew…" Old Osmond wiped off sweat from his head with a cloth as he leaned back in his chair. With no more guests for now, he was busy lazing on his desk. "I hate being all grouchy and serious like that."

"You did well, Old Osmond." Miss Longueville praised from her own desk. The Headmaster of Tristain's Academy of Magic perked his head up from the rare praise. Perhaps he ran on praise.

"I did; didn't I?" Osmond said with some pride. His back straightening as he looked at his beautiful secretary with a hopeful face. "Now, can I have my pipe back?"

"No." Miss Longueville bluntly answered before looking away from the surprised headmaster and returning to her work. She would have to arrange for someone to fix the wall and fill in the tunnels that lead outside the school. Not to mention all the preparation for tonight's ball.

"But you said…" Osmond started before he was cut off by Longueville slapped down her papers on the desk and making a loud bang which cut off Osmond. There was an irritated glare on her face as she faced the headmaster. "That was until I saw Motsognir underneath their skirts."

"Motsognir! How could you do such a despicable thing?" Osmond chastised his own familiar which had crawled back onto his desk. The mouse could only stare back at Osmond in accusation. "Chuchu!"

Miss Longueville rolled her eyes in exacerbation at his act. This was, admittedly, a new one but she knew well enough the relation that Old Osmond and his mouse shared. Motsognir was docile on his own and would never wander underneath girl's skirts to peer up without his master's influence.

"Old Osmond." A muffled voice, accompanied by successive light knocks on the door, called out from outside his office. The large wooden door opened slightly and Professor Colbert slipped into his office. His face was dark and serious, an abject change from his usual light hearted nature.

"Ah. Colbert. How did your investigation go?" Osmond optimistically asked him. Out of all the staff present, he was the only teacher he knew would be willing to actually investigate and possibly face Fouquet. And given his military history, he could quite likely defeat Fouquet as well.

"Fruitless I'm afraid. The tunnel that Fouquet used seems to be pre-prepared but otherwise there was no clues left behind." Colbert reported as he slumped into an empty seat. Having spent most of the time after the attack searching, including most of the morning, he was exhausted.

"A pity." was the only comment Osmond had as the headmaster had a distant look for a moment. When his eyes refocused; they were steeled and determined. "Miss Longueville. Could you please round up all the other teachers again? I feel that I need to have a little talk about our security."

* * *

"Miss Longueville?" Tabitha repeated. She paused in her eating as she looked at him. Their corner table was empty now since most of the others had taken the moment to go out and dance leaving them to have their semi-private conversation. The chances that someone could overhear them over all this noise were low.

"Maybe… It's just a suspicion." Daud admitted. He honestly wasn't entirely sure if Miss Longueville was Fouquet and there wasn't really any way to check. Asking for her alibi would be suspicious and he doubted any competent thief would leave incriminating equipment in their room. It wasn't like Fouquet used a lot of equipment anyway; it seemed to be mostly just a cheap cloak and at least two wands. "Anything you want to do about it?"

"No. Fouquet is Tristain problem. Not our business." Tabitha stated before returning to her meal. That was a colder response than he expected. But then, whether they really caught the thief wouldn't really matter for the time being. He doubted Fouquet would strike again anytime soon. Security would be raised and guards would be much more attentive after a break in; it would be better to lay low and wait for the heat to die down first.

Daud shrugged at her response and picked at his own food. This would probably be one of the rare occasions where he could eat food normally reserved for nobles, as he's been reminded time and time again by the other noble students.

There was a collective gasp among the students that were dancing and both Daud and Tabitha turned to see what the stir was. There dancing awkwardly in the middle of the hall was Saito and Louise. Noticeably Saito couldn't dance and was stumbling all over his partner's feet.

"I'm guessing the problem is that she's dancing with her familiar who happens to be a commoner." Daud made a guess from the behaviour of the nobles here and the culture of the place so far.

While the nobles in Dunwall were far more ruthless and cunning, since they didn't have magic to prove their superiority; the culture of superiority over common born was equally prevalent. A noble dancing with a commoner would likely be social suicide for the noble. But then, maybe the students here might grow to be just as much of bastards as the majority of nobles in Dunwall were.

"Yes." Tabitha answered with an uninterested tone. Finished with looking at Louise and her familiar fail at dancing, she resumed eating her meal.

"Figures." Daud said with a sigh before finishing off some chicken.

* * *

**Just a note; I am following the LN canon rather than the anime one but I don't plan on reaching as far as the whole crisis thing(no spoilers for those who haven't read that far). Again, please review. If there is anything you don't like then do mention it and, if possible, explain why and give advice. It would be much appreciated. **


	4. Chapter 4

**With my real life stuff now resolved (exams), I have found time to write this again. As for the differences between this Tabitha and canon Tabitha; it should mostly be experience. Whereas canon Tabitha was something like a child soldier, this one isn't for reasons I won't state yet. And since she isn't a triangle class mage; that whole thing with their classmates trying to get Kirche and Tabitha into a fight and them subsequently become friends after it also wouldn't have happened. If there is a error in this reasoning, do tell me.**

* * *

"That's quite a fanfare." Daud commented as he observed the parade below from the window in Tabitha's room. His hand spun his spyglass as he watched the spectacle at the Vestri Court take place in all its extravagance.

Ordered lines of students, two rows on each side of the pre-determined path, were standing attentively with their wands held high in the air. The three years of the academy, indicated by the colour of their respective cloaks, starting with the third years closest to the main building and the first years the furthest.

At the end of the route was where the teachers and noble staff was stood as they awaited the Princess of Tristain. Wearing their most regal robes, their wardrobes could afford, they stood in two separate diagonal lines that ended with the old Headmaster at their meeting point behind them. Standing next to him on both sides was his secretary on the right and that Professor Colbert on the left.

And travelling down the path laid out for them was oversized monster eagles that towered over the students. Mounted on the monsters were black attired mages with white feathered hats and decorated medals on all of them.

And enclosed within their formation was an over extravagant carriage pulled by glittery white horses with horns on their heads. Held within was likely the Princess herself, though one couldn't see through the silver curtains.

Daud put down his spyglass as he finished watching the sights from afar. He then turned to Tabitha, who was still in her room with him rather than out there with the rest of the student body. A book in her hand while she was seated in her bed, there was a complete lack of interest from her for the festivities outside. "You're not going out there?"

With classes off for the coming of the princess, Tabitha had gone to do what she usually did when she had spare time. Reading a book in the most comfortable position available; her bed in this case. And, judging from the title, her novel was some fantasy adventure.

Tabitha took a pause from her reading and directed teal eyes at him. The book held down to rest on her lap for a moment. "Not my Princess."

He had meant why she wasn't down there with the rest of the students. This was a whole academy event wasn't it? Weren't all students meant to attend this? Or was she not required to since she was a foreign student?

"So you would be cheering if it was the Gallian Princess?" Daud sceptically asked her, keeping his other thoughts quiet. For he doubted that she would be out there cheering even if her country's princess was out there.

"No; I dislike her." Tabitha with a simple answer. With his question answered, she downed her eyes, raised her book back up and returned to reading.

Daud gave a nod at her reply before returning his gaze back to the Royal entourage. From all the gossip hanging around the academy, she was here as the main judge for some show tonight where the students get to show off their familiars. And speaking of the show…

"We're not participating in the contest, are we?" Daud questioned Tabitha. The master was probably required to sign up for this show. And well, he wasn't interested in participating in any contest but if she wanted to…

Tabitha didn't take her eyes of her book but the shake of her head was enough of an answer. He hadn't expected any different and it certainly wasn't any loss at all to him. What amazing theatrics could he perform anyway? How to strangle someone without killing them?

"Her Royal Highness: Princess Henrietta of the Kingdom of Tristain has arrived!" A guard loudly heralded over as the door to the carriage was opened by one of the black attired Royal Guards. Loud enough that he could hear it all the way from here.

The former assassin watched as a beautiful purple haired girl, in a flowing white dress and purple cape to match her hair, was helped out of the carriage by an older man in regal white and gold robes. The two of them were met by the Headmaster before being lead inside; the black robed guards promptly following after them with practiced discipline.

With the Princess of Tristian now inside, the remaining teachers began to dismiss the gathered students who let their arms fall back down. Predictably, most of the students and the teachers hurriedly horded into the hall after the princess, eager to catch another sight of royalty.

And as the crowd dwindled down into a measly dozen bystanders left; the volume of the parade faded. Taking the new quiet as an indicator of its completion, Tabitha asked "Done?"

"Looks like it." Daud confirmed for her. He abandoned his view from the window. Tucking it within his coat, he moved to the door and stopped just short of it. "Time for lunch then. You coming?"

"Yes." Tabitha replied. Closing her book, she hopped off of her silk bed and made for the door. Daud opened the door and walked out first. But then, he stopped and allowed Tabitha to leave herself, close the door behind her and take the lead. Tabitha gave a slight nod before walking off to the hall.

The corridors of the girl's dorms were quiet with everyone outside and only inhabited by a bored maid approaching from the other direction carrying a basket of sheets. The maid gave a short bow as they passed her whilst carrying her basket of cloth before hurriedly continuing with her chores.

It was just inside of the Vestri Hall that they split up. There wasn't a word shared as Daud left his place by Tabitha and walked towards the Kitchen.

If he didn't know the route himself, the warm aroma of hot food was enough of a guide itself. That and the constant stream of servants carrying dishes was a big giveaway. Just follow them and you find it.

Allowing a pair of maids carrying bowls of soups to pass him first, he entered the kitchen through the wide doors. And as usual, the head chef spotted him instantly. He stood out enough among the servants that only an idiot wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

"Ho! So you're back again, eh?" The head chef, Marteau, called out as he entered the kitchen.

The middle aged brown haired man stood amidst the rather orderly mess that was the kitchen. Cooks in white dress and white tall hats were tirelessly working away with the primitive stoves and ovens. Meanwhile kitchen hands were busying themselves with washing and scrubbing clean the dishes and setting them up for the cooks to place their food.

"I come here for every meal." Daud blandly answered as he picked up the plate left aside for him at its usual place. The quality of his food seemed to exponentially increase ever since he shot Guiche, an unexpected benefit to be honest. And it wasn't difficult to tell why? Not with Marteau's constant reminders.

"That you do and you're welcome to come for as long as I'm head chef here for what you did with that blond fop." Marteau said with a hearty chuckle. Yet despite his good nature, it didn't spread to Daud who gave him a neutral look.

Daud nodded his acknowledgment before heading back out of the kitchen. The man was open about his dislike of nobles and magic in general. It was a wonder that he could manage to keep his job here in a facility run by the same nobles. Either he was just that good at his job or he held some dirt on someone important here.

Knowing that the entrance that linked the kitchen to the Alviss Hall would by crowded with hurrying servants by now, he took a detour. The corridors outside the Vestri Hall were empty as he traversed through them and eventually entered the hall through the same one he entered before.

With his own tray in his hand, he scanned the hall for the teal hair of Tabitha. It would usually be accompanied by pink hair and occasionally red. Unsurprisingly, it took only seconds for him to see them at a table in the far corner of the hall

As he carefully made his way between the tables and past the servants carrying the large dishes; he listened into snippets of conversations with a practiced ear as he passed them. Old habits die hard.

"…eard that Londonium has fallen to the rebels. That, even, King James is de…"

"…ow many ships do you think the Wales still have? Enough to beat Prince Stephen?"

"…think that all those ships that Stephon got is a bit suspicious. Wales was winning before…"

"…wear it has to be the Germanians! Tristain and Gallia is already officially supporting…"

So there was a war of some sort going on. And Tristain, Gallia were officially supporting one side. While Germania also seemed to have a role. Odd that he only heard of these tidings today. There had never been a mention of a war before. Did the princess bring along these new tidings to the academy?

Tabitha gave him a slight nod of acknowledgement as he sat beside her. Her pink classmate and her familiar paid no attention to him as they talked over something.

The two girl's meals were identical in everything except how much of it was eaten. While Tabitha's was at a quarter gone, her pink classmate seemed to have no appetite at all and her food was left to get cold. Conversely, Saito had a meal similar to his own, likely due to Marteau again.

"Wait, so it's bad that this Wales guy lost?" Saito asked Louise, who seemed to be staring away. Tracing her gaze, he saw only where the princess was dining with the headmaster. At least eight guards were stationed around the table with an additional two others checking all the servants bringing food to them. They certainly weren't lax with security regarding royalty.

The pink girl paid no attention and ignored her familiar's question. It was only when Saito poked her in the cheek that she finally had a reaction. "Wha… what?"

"Is it bad that Wales lost?" Saito repeated again, much more slowly this time for effect.

"Of course it's bad." Louise gave dismissive reply.

"Who's this Wales?" Daud asked Tabitha who didn't seem too interested in the conversations of those that shared her table.

Wales was one of those mentioned to be at war with this Prince Stephon. And as far as he knew, he wasn't a monarch. He knew that it was Joseph for Gallia, Marianne for Tristain, Vittoria for Romalia, Albrecht III for Germania and James for Albion. Though the last one might be dead according to rumours, which wasn't much of a reliable source.

"Prince of Albion." Tabitha blandly answered before testing the heat of her soup with her tongue.

"The King of Albion." Louise instantly snapped out of her daze and corrected for her.

Tabitha just looked at Louise for a moment. She then shook her head and gave a short reply before returning to her food. "Still disputed."

So this was Albion people were talking about. And Wales was a Prince just like Stephon with kingship in dispute. It was a civil war then and from the sound of it; it was over succession. Literally brother against brother.

"But they're brothers right? Can't they just share the throne or something?" Saito asked them with unusual curiosity.

Daud inwardly scoffed at the idea. Sharing a throne? The idea was laughable. It would mean that both Stephon and Wales would be the absolute rulers of the Kingdom of Albion. And that wasn't possible since you can't have absolute rule when you're sharing power.

And neither of them could leave the other alive as long as they both tried to claim the throne. To secure their place as king for themselves and their heirs, it would be prudent to eliminate the other claimant. They had just chosen the more destructive path to achieve their goal.

"Are you an idiot?" Louise asked her familiar. Her eyes turning dull as she looked down at him.

"Hey! I'm still learning stuff about this world. I don't know everything yet." Saito tried to defend himself.

The harsh glare that Louise directed at Saito then softened in response to his words. There was a guilty look in her eyes before she turned away from him.

Ignoring their pubescent interactions, he pressed Tabitha for more information. "So what are their claims?"

"Stephon is eldest. Heir by primogeniture law."

"Primonature?" Saito failed to repeat as he listened in on the answer.

"It's when the eldest son inherits." Daud answered. He then indicated for Tabitha to continue.

"King named Wales his successor." Tabitha plainly stated. It was clear her explanation was finished as she returned to eating the little left of her meal.

"You mean the King specifically named him heir?" Daud pressed on. He was under the impression that the King's will would override the normal laws of succession.

Tabitha nodded in reply. Well then, he supposed that his other son didn't take it too well and was now trying to take it by force what he couldn't get by right. And force of arms was always a good persuasion to make others see it your way.

"So shouldn't Wales be King then?" Saito asked Tabitha, deeming her as a better information source than his master.

"Albion not elective like Germania." Tabitha replied. Her plate was empty now and her attention was onto the discussion.

"Germania's elective?" Saito asked in surprise. "Why do they have an Emperor the-"

"Ah!"

Daud turned his attention to Louise who had made the sudden outburst. The pink girl's eyes snapped to her familiar. Said familiar quivered under her intense look. "We have to get back to practice; there's not much time left!"

"But I haven't-"Saito tried to point out he hadn't finished his meal yet. He wasn't given a chance as he was dragged out of his chair by Louise. And with only a longing look at his food, he let himself be pulled out of the Alviss Hall by his master.

Daud watched them leave with an odd look. Those two were confusing to him. At times they seemed to act like normal teenagers would but it just felt a bit forced to him. There was some sort of syndrome that described what they seemed like. Emphasising with their kidnapper or something.

Regardless, he gave up thinking about them and returned to the topic of Albion. "So who's the most likely to win?"

Tabitha chewed on some meat for a few more moments and took some time to empty her mouth first before she answered. "Stephon is. Wales suffered heavy casualties."

"In Londonium?" Daud asked with the location name he heard earlier.

"Yes. His forces depleted."

"A shame."

"Yes."

With a final bite, Tabitha finished her meal and left only clean plates behind. Vacating her seat, she started the walk back to her room.

Daud got up with her, his own plate picked clean of food. Following after his master, he continued with his questions. "Which side of this are you on anyway?"

"Wales." Tabitha instantly answered.

"Any particular reason?" Daud asked her. He would have thought she would be neutral in this whole thing.

"Gallia supports Wales." was the answer he received. Ah, so it was because Wales was the politically correct answer for her. Of course.

Then that may as well be the stance he would have on this whole civil war business too. While he might not be Gallian, unless being summoned by a Gallian made him one, his master was a Gallian and his position should probably be the same as hers.

It's not like he knew enough of the princes to make a proper judgement about them anyway.

* * *

Daud stared at the twin moons in the black sky of night from the roof of the girl's dorm. The noisy clamour of the festivities had ended long ago and there was only the silent blowing of the cool wind.

His new life as a familiar had been quite dull. There had been that scuffle with the still loose thief but Fouquet had yet to make a reappearance. Though he supposed that dullness was a good thing. Attacks like Fouquets seemed like a rare occurrence and he doubted that any commoner would dare to attack the academy by themselves.

He rubbed over the impression the small book in his coat made. It was a religious book about the Founder Brimir, given to him by Tabitha to practice his reading. It was essentially a carbon copy of the Everyman's Holy Scriptures. Maybe he should grab a light from somewhere so he could read.

But then how would he keep it in place. The roof was slanted and holding the book and lantern with a hand each seemed like a bit too much trouble.

Nah. Maybe he should find himself a hobby to occupy himself with while the days go by. Maybe he take up wood crafting and make wooden knifes or something. That was pretty much the only thing he could think of.

He then heard the landing and her soft breaths of exertion. "Done."

Daud nodded his acknowledgement and stopped counting. The speed that Tabitha completed the course he designated had improved as usual.

And without warning, he swung his free arm at her.

He felt brief contact with her leg before hearing the sound of a transversal. And then all physical resistance was gone. This was an acceptable reaction speed, if only barely. If that had been a poisoned bolt, she would be dead.

"Passed?" Tabitha asked as she reappeared a bit further from him now.

"Yes. But there is room for improvement. " Daud stated. "But that should be enough for tonight."

Tabitha nodded, drips of sweat coming off from her hair as she did so. "See you."

And with that, she turned to ash and vanished.

Tabitha reappeared in her room in a blink of ash. Her eyes drooping as she heaved a heavy sigh and longingly sighted her bed. With heavy steps, she started dragging her way to it, eager to go to sleep.

"Tabitha?" a voice rang in her room.

Her body froze at the feminine voice. The only other person who should be in her room would be Daud and that wasn't him. Slowly turning to the direction of the voice; she found herself staring into ember red eyes.

She blinked at the sight of Kirche lying on Daud's bed. The Germanian was looking at her with a mixture of surprise and awe. "Kirche?"

"Tabitha?" Kirche repeated as she blinked. "How did you do that?"

Tabitha blinked again. Kirche had saw her transverse into the room. That was troublesome but... "Magic."

"I know that. But what spell was that?" Kirche asked her. Her interest in this was understandable but she would rather not share transversals with her. She couldn't even do it without the mark anyhow.

"Why are you here?" Tabitha responded with a question of her own with the intent of changing the subject. How did Kirche enter her room in the first place? She was certain she had locked the door.

"Me?" Kirche pointed to herself with her finger.

"Yes." Tabitha said with a nod. She was very interested to know why the Germanian would come to her room at night. There were no immediate reasons that could come to mind.

"Well... I might have made a comment on the whole Albion thing, which may have ticked off a few of the more stuck up Tristainians." Kirche started her story. The Germanian thrn gave a depressed sigh. "And I guess a few of them didn't take it so well since my rooms a bit flooded now..."

Tabotha gave a slight nod. The general mood between Tristainians and Germanians was already sour and the recent debacle over the Albion affair only worsened that. Being the most recognised and most infamous Germanian student, of the scarce few there were, made her the biggest target.

"So I thought; I'd have a sleepover with you!" Kirche bounced back. Her attitude now bubbly again. "Can I?"

Tabitha paused for a moment as she thought. She didn't particularly want her to sleep here but she also didn't want to just throw her back out either. And from her word, she didn't exactly have anywhere else to sleep anyway. "Alright."

And she could possibly even imagine the reason why Kirche had come to her rather than anyone else. Given that it was likely Tristainian students that sabotaged her room, she would be uncomfortable with sharing a room with them; for good reason of course.

She was likely the only non-Tristainian female student within reasonable distance of her own room. Though she did wonder how long she had been waiting here in her room.

But this was all just conjecture and she could be wrong completely. Tabitha sighed and turned back to her bed. She really wanted to go to sleep.

"Tabi..." Again she froze. That was Daud's voice.

Turning her head around again, there was a twinge of concern when she saw that Daud and Kirche was looking at each other now. Did Kirche see Daud transverse into the room?

"How long have you been there?" Kirche asked Daud with surprise.

Tabitha tried her best to mask her relief. Kirche wouldn't be asking that if she had seen him transverse into the room. His secret was still safe.

"Only a moment." Daud slowly replied. He eyed Kirche for a moment before turning to her. "Why is she here?"

"Staying for the night." Tabitha automatically replied.

"Don't you want _me_ here..." Kirche asked Daud in a low tone as she bent over to expose more of her breast for him.

Tabitha watched as Daud frowned at Kirche while she placed herself into a position which showed more skin and made her more sexually appealing. She had the feeling that what Kirche was doing was having the opposite effect on Daud.

"I don't." Daud stated plainly for her. He gave one last look at the surprised Kirche on his bed and the dragon resting beside it before walking over to her bed. "Could I use a blanket?"

Tabitha nodded and peeled off the top layer of her blankets and also grabbed one of her two pillows. She then held it out for Daud who gave his thanks.

"Hmm? I always thought you two slept together." Kirche commented as Daud laid out the blanket and the pillow on the hard floor. Though Kirche couldn't see, Tabitha did see Daud's brow twitch at the innuendo though he made no comment.

Tabitha didn't deign to respond to her words and simply placed her glasses onto her nightstand, turned off the lamp and crawled into her bed. Snuggling into the blankets she had left, she finally closed her drooping eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

Tabitha's eyes twitched as small glimmers of light tried to work its way through her eye lids. She tried to shut her eyes lids tighter and cut off the light, yet she could not maintain it and the light was sneaking its way in again.

Knowing that she would be fighting a losing battle trying to stay asleep, she slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling of her room. The dark stone stared straight back at her.

"Are you awake?" she heard Daud murmur in a quiet voice. Her head turned to see Daud standing by the window, his spyglass held in one hand.

"Yes." Tabitha mumbled as a reply. What was Daud looking at? She pulled an arm out of her blankets and pointed at his spyglass. "What?"

"You're pink friend, her familiar and one of those guards are leaving on a horse and a monster bird." Daud said. He waved a hand out the window to where, she supposed, the three people he mentioned were.

Pink friend? Louise? And monster bird? Did he mean a griffon?

With a tired yawn, she slowly slid out of her bed. She shivered slightly when her bare feet touched the stone but walked over to the window regardless.

The morning sun was a hazy red yet its rays were blinding as ever. Shading her eyes with her hand, Tabitha scanned the entrance of the school, where she would expect them to be leaving from. Sure enough, she spotted three forms mounting onto one horse and one griffon near the gate. Two of them were obviously Louise and Saito yet she could tell who the third was from this distance.

"Can you…" Tabitha was about to ask Daud to tell her who it was. She stopped when she saw that Daud was holding a spyglass out to her. As she was about to take it, she blinked when she saw his pinkie pointed back into the room.

Trying to not turn her face too much to look, she saw Kirche seated on her bed. The Germanian was rubbing her eyes and there was a puzzled look on her face as she looked at them by the window. Tabitha pretended to not notice and made note to disclose anything meant to be secret.

"Thank you." Tabitha said as she took the spyglass out of his hands. Examining the device, she carefully extended it and put it to her eye. The zoom was far deeper than she was accustomed with; though she had really only just used a spyglass on one other occasion back in Orleans with her…

She shook off the thought and went back to looking. The man and Louise had mounted on their griffon while Saito looked like he was struggling with his mount. Turning her attention to her the third man, she was slightly surprised to recognise him.

The Lightning, named after his signature spell. Jean-Jacques Francis, the Captain of the Royal Griffon Knights and the Viscount of Wardes. The point of this mission was that they wanted to be quiet about it, correct? Wouldn't someone as renowned as him ruin the secrecy then?

"Is that last guy a royal guard? I think I saw him yesterday by the princess." Daud asked Tabitha.

"Yes. Captain of the guard." Tabitha answered. He had been with the princess most of yesterday. Wouldn't his disappearance raise questions? It would be odd for the captain of her guard to suddenly disappear.

"You mean Viscount Wardes?" Kirche asked from right behind them.

Tabitha flinched when the weight of a hand plopped onto her shoulder along with a heavy weight. Turning her head, she found her nose brushing against Kirche's, who seemed to have placed her head atop her hand atop her shoulder. The warmth from the contact was… uncomfortable.

"Y…yes." Tabitha answered as she quickly shifted and dislodged Kirche from her shoulder. Luckily Kirche didn't seem to pay much attention to her. Instead her focus and interest seemed solely on the three preparing to leave.

"Eh… where are they going?" Kirche sleepily asked as she stared out the window.

"Who knows?"Daud shrugged as he replied to her question.

Her familiar walked around Kirche, who was still staring out the window, and back to her. He held his hand out and gestured to the spyglass still gripped in her hand. "Can I have it back now?"

Tabitha nodded and gingerly handed back the spyglass. Letting herself sigh, she wandered back to her bad and was about to sneak back under her blankets.

"We have to go after them!" Kirche suddenly declared. In only an instant, she was scrambling back to Daud's bed where she pulled out a bag. Pulling out a uniform, she quickly stripped off her pajamas and changed into her uniform.

"Why?" Tabitha asked her while she was fiddling with her stockings. She saw no reason to intrude on the personal business of Louise. It must be an important manner if it required an elite Royal Knight of the Griffon Corps to accompany her. Though whether it was for protection or just symbolic value; she wasn't certain.

"Why not?" Kirche countered with a response that implied she didn't have a reason herself. Her white blouse was on now and she was in the midst of strapping the black second year cloak around her neck.

"No point in following." Tabitha answered.

"Aren't you interested in where they're going?" Kirche tried to pique her interest.

"Not really." Was the truthful reply. She was slightly interested in knowing where they were going and why. But not enough so that she was willing to stalk them over it.

"So you are a bit interested." Kirche stated with a waggling finger at Tabitha. The Germanian then petter her red hair with both hands for a moment. "Do you have a mirror?"

"In drawer." Tabitha brushed her hand over the wooden drawers' right next to her bed. "Second draw."

"Thanks." Kirche gave as she walked over the drawer and pulled the draw out. Rummaging through it, the Germanian pulled out the small hand mirror that Tabitha kept. Using it as a guide, Kirche began to comb her long hair.

"C'mon Tabitha. It'll be like an adventure." Kirche continued. With her beauty making finally done, Kirche jumped onto Tabitha's bed and stared at her with pleading eyes. "It's not like we have anything else to do during the days of Void and Yul."

Tabitha reluctantly nodded at that. There was no classes during those days and she usually just stayed in her room reading a book.

"And how do you propose we keep up with them when they have horses and that…" Daud questioned her but dropped off as he tried to identify the mount that the Viscount of Wardes rode.

"Griffon." Tabitha completed for him.

"…Griffon?" Daud completed his question.

"How? Easy." Kirche waved off with an easy smile. Striding over to the window, she leaned out. "FLAME!"

It was only a moment later that there was roar in response. Moments later, the sun's ray coming through her window turned dark and the light in her room dimmed. A loud scrapping noise could be heard and seconds later, a large red reptilian head popped through.

"That probably woke up half the school." Daud commented as he cautiously backed away from the head of the red dragon.

"Oh, they'll get over it." Kirche again waved the concern off. She went up to her dragon and petted it on the head; getting a happy growl from it. "We can ride Flame."

Tabitha blinked at the thought of riding a dragon and soaring through the sky on its back. That... was dangerous and falling off would leave her falling to her death to the ground far below.

Yet… she couldn't say she was completely adverse to the idea of riding on a dragon.

"Can that even fit us all?" Daud sceptically asked Kirche.

"Of course." Kirche answered. She grinned when Flame began nuzzling her with its head. "So how about it Tabitha?"

Daud looked at Tabitha and closed his eyes as he sighed. "It's up to you."

Tabitha nodded. So Daud would go along with whatever she chose; that was nice to know. So then should she come?

There really wasn't much to do during the days of the Void and Yul…

Riding on a dragon...

And the Tales of Two Sons wasn't really all that interesting either…

* * *

Tabitha stoically sat behind Kirche on her red dragon as it soared across the skies. In front of her, Kirche was peering down searching for Louise, Saito and the Viscount along the road. Daud sat behind her and had been especially quiet during the trip.

"There they are!" Kirche pointed out. Her arm was pointing somewhere down below on the road. Looking down herself, Tabitha easily spotted the mismatched pair of the large griffon and the thin horse.

But more alarming was the small mass of human figures that were atop the cliffs towering over the road. People wouldn't normally camp out atop cliffs that had a perfect vantage point on the road below.

"Bandits." Tabitha concluded aloud. Catching Kirche's attention, she pointed at the bandits that were now massing near the edge of the cliff. "There."

"Get closer." Tabitha requested as she hefted her staff. Kirche nodded in understanding and directed Flame at the bandits. The red dragon swerved in the sky and dived at the bandits from behind.

As they neared, the bandit's bows became clear and a volley of arrows were launched at the travellers down below. Fortunately, the Viscount of Wardes raised his wand in response and cast a spell. A miniature hurricane formed before the arrows and the projectiles were sucked into the ferocious winds and sent flying off harmlessly in other directions.

Intent on allowing them loose another volley, Tabitha carefully designated targets behind them and began to mouth the words to a spell. Taking a short breath just before the end, she finished the incantation and let the energy she gathered go.

The space behind the bandits detonated in a series of explosions. The blasts hurtled the arrayed bandits forwards off the cliffs, leaving them to fall screaming in terror to the dirt road below.

Tabitha closed her eyes just as the bandits crashed onto the road. Audible cracks could be heard through the darkness and the screams stopped to be replaced with moans of pain.

Opening her eyes again, she winced at the sight of human bodies lying sprawled across the road. Most of them were alive, in pain and with broken bodies, but alive. Though some of them were quiet and would never make another noise again.

She took a few slow deep breaths to calm herself at the sight of the bodies. Deep… slow… breaths…

"Sorry for being late!" Kirche called out to Louise down below. As she did so, Flame began to descend to the road at a reasonable pace. Tabitha jolted slightly but steadied herself again.

"Zerbst! What are you doing here?!" Louise shouted back at them as Flame landed on the ground.

Kirche gave an easy smile as she hopped off her dragon and walked over to Louise and Wardes who were mounted on their griffon. "Well, those two…"

Kirche turned and flicked her hand to indicate to Tabitha and…

Her hand wavered for a moment when she realized that Daud was not on her dragon any more. It took only a brief moment of looking around and an awkward pause that she found him ruffling through the bandits. "…saw you leave and woke me up. And then since there's no school for the next two days. We decided to follow you."

"We?" Tabitha heard Daud mutter under his breath by the bandits.

Kirche, however, either didn't hear it or simply ignored it as she sauntered up to Wardes on his griffon. However, Louise hopped off the Viscount's griffon and intercepted Kirche before she get there. "Listen Zerbst! We're on a secret mission for her highness and you can't come!"

Tabitha made note to never entrust Louise with important secrets. The whole point of keeping a secret was to not reveal it to anyone who didn't know.

Kirche gave only a snort at Louise before pushing past her and heading to Wardes. Putting herself in a suggestive pose before the Viscount, she gently placed her hand onto his arm and stroked it. "You're beard makes you very manly, you know? Do you know what passion is like?"

Wardes's face twitched at the contact and the seductive pose. With a twist of his arm, he shook off Kirche and pushed her away. "Please refrain from doing that in front of my fiancée."

There was clear surprise from Kirche from his words and Tabitha looked at Louise, who was blushing. It didn't take very long to deduce that Louise was the fiancée in question. Kirche clearly was not it and she was certainly wasn't engaged to the Viscount of Wardes.

"Louise is engaged to you?" Kirche cried out in surprise.

"Yes. And you are free to accompany us for the rest of the journey." The Viscount said.

"But…" Louise started what was likely to be an objection before Wardes also quickly dismounted from his griffon and silenced her.

The Viscount knelt down by Louise and whispered something into Louise's ear. Though, Tabitha could not hear what was said, the effect on Louise was clear. Her demeanour was much more stable and less flustered as her fiancée reassured her of… whatever.

"He's saying he's keeping us close so we can't go revealing what they're doing to anyone." She heard Daud whisper to her from behind.

Tabitha quickly turned around to find that Daud was back on the dragon. In his hand was a heavy bag that clinked at the barest of movement. He looted the bandits?

"All the coin I could find on them." Daud informed her. He opened the bag for her to look inside and she did so. It wasn't especially much for a noble but a small fortune for a commoner. A mixture of Ecu and New Gold Coin. "You can ha-"

"No! Ple-argh." What followed was the sound of someone choking on his blood.

Turning to the noise, Tabitha was surprised to see that the Viscount was in the midst of executing the surviving bandits. The few that were still conscious begged for mercy or tried to crawl away from him.

"What are you doing?" a horrified question from Saito. Tabitha had forgotten about him but even so, she didn't take her eyes off Wardes who moved onto the next victim. A man in dirty clothes with his left leg bent in the wrong direction. He died just as fast as the man before him.

"Finishing them off." Wardes coldly replied. Stepping over the man he just killed, he quickly walked over to the bandit who had crawled the furthest away. With a dispassionate look at the vagabond, he drove his sword wand into the man's head and swiftly pulled it out, leaving nary a trace of blood on his own weapon.

This continued on for minutes as the Captain of the Griffon Knights gave the finishing blows to his ambushers. Tabitha wincing every time she heard the sound of his weapon entering their flesh and the dying gurgles of the men.

Tabitha watched with distaste as he expressionlessly killed the men. She knew that the penalty for the bandits would be death… and that since she probably… broke most of their bones by knocking them down here; the chances of them surviving on their own were impossible. Even so…

Just as Wardes was about to kill the last bandit; Saito tried to speak up again. "But… you can't just kill them?"

"Why not?" Wardes challenged him to reply. "They were bandits who tried to kill us just a moment ago. Give them to any magistrate and they would hang for their crimes. And besides, with these wounds they wouldn't have survived long anyway."

Saito opened his mouth to say something before he reluctantly clamped it back down. His hand clenched into a fist that shook as he watched Wardes finish off the last bandit.

"And I don't take threats to Louise that well." Wardes darkly muttered under his breath as he cleaned his sword-wand on the rugged clothes of his last kill. Turning back to the others, he inclined his hat down slightly for them. "I'm sorry if the sight offended any of you. But it had to be done."

Tabitha hesitantly nodded though there was a clear look of shock from Louise. She… wouldn't deny that. They would likely have continued ambushing travellers coming down this road and not everyone would be accompanied by mages. More likely, they had already committed several murders and robberies.

Wardes gave a comforting squeeze to Louise's shoulder before him hopped back onto his griffon and offered a hand to his fiancée. The pink haired girl hesitated for just a moment, gave look back at the bodies before hesitantly taking his hand.

There was an unrecognizable look on Wardes face as he hefted Louise onto his griffon. It was there only for a moment because expression was back to its steely self as he shouted. "We'll spend the night in La Rochelle. Our ships leaves tomorrow noon."

* * *

The knock on the door caught Daud's attention. Seeing as though pink's familiar, whom he was sharing the room with, was closer to the door; he let him answer it. Who would come this early in the morning anyway?

The answer came in the form of the Royal Guard captain. Wardes gave a friendly nod to him and then looked down at the shorter Saito. "Good morning."

"Morning." Saito grumbled back as he stepped aside and let Wardes enter the room. "It's still too early to leave isn't it?"

The Guard didn't move from his spot outside the door despite the invitation. "It is. But I just wished to ask you a few things."

"Okay." Saito replied cautiously. For whatever reason, he seemed very uneasy around Wardes.

"What's your relation to Louise?" Wardes directly asked Saito.

"I'm her familiar…" Saito carefully replied as he stared at Wardes. His eyes searching his face and expressions for any hint of his intent. "Why?"

"And is that it?" Wardes pressed on. His faint smile was gone now and a more serious frown marred his face. He stared at Saito as he waited for answer.

Saito stared straight back at Wardes for a moment. But eventually, he wavered and finally looked away and stayed silent for about a minute before finally answering. "…Yeah."

And that was a clear indicator that he was not simply just pink's familiar to Daud. And if he could notice it, then Wardes probably could as well. Though he wasn't sure if it was him just being a terrible liar or just in denial.

"Well, do you mind if I test you then?" Wardes politely asked him.

"Test what?" Saito asked him.

"Test to see if you're capable of really protecting my fiancée." Was the reply.

"How?" Saito asked him.

Wardes gave only a smile and patted his hand on where his sword wand hung from his belt. The message was clear. He was looking for a fight.

"A duel?" Saito just had to state the obvious.

"Yes. Though it will be more of a friendly bout." Wardes reassured him.

Again Saito remained silent as mulled over the prospect of a duel. He was probably remembering the last time he had a duel and the result of it. "Alright. Where?"

Daud frowned at his acceptance. Did he forget the last time he engaged in a duel with a mage. Even if he did have a sword this time round; his opponent was of a much higher calibre than Guiche was, or likely ever will be.

"This hotel used to be castle meant to rebel Albionese attacks. There's a parade ground right in the middle of it." Wardes said as he indicated for Saito to follow him. And with grim nod, the boy did.

Wardes then paused at the door just as Saito went ahead of him. Turning back around, he locked eyes with Daud. "…Daud was it?"

Daud nodded. What did he want from him?

"It's proper for a duel to have a witness. Will you be that witness for us?" Wardes asked of him.

Daud considered it for a moment and decided to why not. It was either sit here until someone else woke up or watch the two of them fight it out. That and he can get an idea of how Wardes fought and what a true elite mage could do; that is, supposing, that Saito could manage to get Wardes to fight seriously.

"I don't see why not." He replied as he pushed himself off his bed. Grabbing his sword, he strapped it to his belt and followed the two of them down the hotel and out into the courtyard.

As appropriate for a forgotten and abandoned courtyard; the place was a mess. Scattered crates with rotting wood littered the floor and green moss was marred the usually dark stones of the walls.

Daud stopped walking and stopped just inside the courtyard; hopefully far enough from their fight. The other two continued walking and stopped right in the centre of the courtyard facing each other. Wardes examining Saito with a critical eye while Saito resentfully glared back at Wardes.

"Well, are you ready?" Wardes asked as he prepared to fight.

Saito drew his blade from his back as a response. And Daud noted, with keen interest, that the runes on his hand glowed as he did so. This might actually be more worthwhile than he thought. "Yeah. You?"

"Of course." Wardes replied as he held his sword-wand out. "Let's begin."

Saito immediately sprang across at Wardes with a slash, covering the distance between them in an instant at an impossibly fast speed.

Wardes took a step forward and quickly parried the ridiculously fast blow. Taking a second step, he launched a counter strike and swung a sidewards slash at Saito.

The boy lurched back to avoid the attack, the steel of Wardes's wand sword leaving a mark across his clothes. Saito then started to spring backwards to recover himself.

Not letting up on his assault, Wardes followed Saito, easily matching his speed. His hand held back with his wand in preparation for a stab.

Saito then responded by stopping his flight and swinging diagonally at the captain. His blade singing towards his head.

Wardes then took a sudden step to the side and crouched under the swing, getting underneath the blade. Using his unarmed hand, he clenched it into a fist and hit Saito squarely in the stomach.

Saito faltered from the heavy blood as the breath was knocked out of him. And Wardes took advantage of this by then using his other hand to deliver a blunt blow to Saito's head with the flat side of his blade.

The familiar of Zero gave one last breath before crumpling to the ground. A barely exhausted Wardes standing over his unconscious body with disappointment clear on his face. "That was less than I expected."

Placing his sword-wand back into his belt, he looked over at Daud. "Could you tell him to speak to me after?"

"About what?" Daud asked him.

"Training." Daud blinked at the answer. And seeing his confusion, Wardes elaborated. "Even if I am Louise's fiancée, I can't be with her and protect her all the time. My duties to the crown occupy too much of my time. So can you do it?"

Daud grunted in reply and that was apparently enough of an answer for Wardes. Without another look, the captain passed him and left for the main parts of the hotel.

Walking over to the body of Saito, he gave him a nudge with his foot. "You awake?"

There was no response. But the rise of his chest and the angry trembling of his lip gave him away. One of his hands was slowly raised up into the air and formed a hard fist. And it angrily smashed down onto the stone.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" he released a primal roar of indignation. His fist raised back up into the air and smashing onto the floor again and again.

Daud watched with indifferent eyes as the boy let out his frustration. Tears were streaming out of his tightly shut eyes despite his best efforts. And with one final yell, he finally went limp; his power spent and exhausted. Leaving him with a bloody hand and severely wounded pride.

"I… lost didn't I?" he finally asked in a shaky voice. Intense breathing marring every word he uttered.

"Were you expecting any different?" Daud asked him. If he couldn't beat Guiche; what made him think he could beat someone at least ten times more experienced and stronger than that blond idiot?

"…no. But… no. I was an idiot!" Saito loudly admitted.

"At least you aren't half dead like last time." Daud offered the good side of this. He wouldn't have to spend days in an infirmary. Wardes at least wasn't trying to beat the living crap out of him.

Saito cast an angry glare at him. He just stared straight back. He's stared down more dangerous men and woman that he was.

"…" Saito's lips moved though no word, that he could hear, came out.

"What?" Daud asked with a frown.

"Train me." Saito said, much more audible now.

Train him? He wasn't interested in teaching others how to use a killing weapon anymore. Though, he wouldn't need to. "Lo-"

"Could you have beaten him?" Saito suddenly demanded an answer from him.

Again he frowned at the boy… though he decided to humour him. Could he have beaten Wardes in a fight? In a fair one? Maybe, if he kept using Stop Time. If he had the drop on him? Much more likely. "Maybe. It depends on the circumstances."

"But at least you would have stood a chance. I was just brushed aside like nothing!" Saito angrily shouted. The anger directed at himself rather than the former assassin. "Just like with Guiche! Like Fouquet! Like with those bandits! I'm useless! I can't protect Louise like this! And what the hell is the use of a familiar who can't even protect is master!?"

Daud let him stew in his pit of despair and inferiority for a moment. Watching with a passive face as he sunk into dark emotions. He had seen enough of it in Dunwall. He wasn't sure if there was anything left that could make him feel.

No. Daud shook off that thought. He shouldn't fall into the thinking again. It was that thinking which ruined him in the first place.

Still, he knew how these emotional rides ended out. Either with a coward's noose or a heavy weight that never left you. Though if given the proper guidance… well, he sucked at counselling but it was worth a try anyway. That way, he could at least say he tried.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Daud pressed at him.

"I… need to get stronger."

"Why do you need to get stronger?"

"So I can protect Louise!"

"And why do you need to protect her?"

"I…" Saito paused. His eyes closed his eyes as he searched inwardly for an answer. "I'm her familiar."

That wasn't exactly the answer he had been expecting to get but it would probably work for him. "Then get stronger Saito…" Daud paused as he realized he didn't know his last name. Shrugging it off, he left it at that.

"I can't make you stronger. But Wardes can. Ask him." And with that Daud left Saito lying on the ground of the soon to be empty courtyard.

* * *

**As usual, please review. Feedback and criticism is appreciated as long as its constructive. **


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